Getting affordable auto insurance with poor credit requires a bit more work. Today, large numbers of carriers look at financial position of the applicants to determine the likelihood of them making claims and it is allowed in most states. Some companies can offer up to 25% lower rates to policyholders with good scores. In the opposite direction, you would at least be losing such discounts with them. On the other hand, some automobile insurers couldn’t care less if you are having money problems lately and what is your FICO score. But there may be a catch you should know.
Underwriters continuously look for ways to measure the risks of claims. Their views have been shifting from looking at past driving experience to financial position of applicants. The theory is that people with money problems may have no choice but to make a claim while better off policyholders may ignore small scratches or pay for them out of pocket. In that sense, looking into one’s current money affairs through these reports provide valuable information.
Vehicle Insurance Quotes with Bad Credit
You have two options when you are in bad shape fiscally and that results in unacceptable prices.
First one is to look for no credit check auto insurance companies. There are several non-standard carriers who offer quotes without looking into it. The problem is that these carriers don’t need to look deep into details to charge expensive rates because they are already in the expensive end of the market. So, they may not be as advantageous as it appears.
Also, scoring isn’t allowed in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan and therefore carriers cannot look into financial activities and categorize you while considering the proposal form. This works in favor of people who have problems in this department but may go against others with clean background.
Secondly, you may start shopping around in the usual way and see what comes up. Remember that it is only one of the factors that affect premiums. There are many other discounts to qualify for that you can still find reasonably priced policies even with a bad score.
Finding a competitively priced source can save you as much as 4 – 5 times in comparison to being with a carrier whose typical rates are much higher than anyone else. So, desperately looking for car insurance companies who don’t check credit may be an extreme approach and you should give others a chance too if you want to find the lowest rates for your position.
The problem is that most of them don’t share their charge tables. Therefore, it is usually unclear who charges less or more for a particular detail. Even if a provider claims to be specialist in this market that doesn’t mean that others aren’t going to offer coverage that will beat theirs. The best thing to do is to shop around to see where you stand.
Understandably, no credit check vehicle insurance would be great when you know you have a problem in that department. Another approach may be that you figure out your strong points and see if they can land you savings to offset shortcomings. For example, you may have a great driving history that can qualify you for as much as 30% discounts. And you may be a homeowner and some offer around 10% discounts for such people even they appear to be struggling financially looking at FICO data.
Also, there is a distinction between companies who wouldn’t look at it while giving quotes and who wouldn’t include this detail in their premium calculations. A few of them don’t need to confirm anything at this stage. It doesn’t mean they don’t need to know. They simply ask you if it is good, average or poor. Once you decide to go on cover they can carry out their usual checks on you and adjust the premium if there are discrepancies in the information you provided. In the case of latter, they just don’t include such detail in their calculations.