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Home Owners Insurance

By
Real Estate Agent with Dave Edwards Realty

Who do you know that needs to buy or sell real estate? Contact DAVE EDWARDS at 864.275.7250 or email at daveedwards@kw.com.

Unless you have recently purchased a home or refinanced the home you're currently living in, you may not be aware that insurance companies are now looking at credit scores.  According to the Insurance Information Institute (a non-profit organization, www.iii.org), insurance companies have learned that a person's credit history is an accurate predictor of risk.  Lenders also look at a person's credit history, but they do not assess the same factors as insurance companies.

If you have a good or great credit scores, it is likely that your homeowner's insurance rate will be lower.  If your credit scores are sub-standard, you need to do two things: (1) work on repairing your credit (an excellent book: Credit Repair, by Robin Leonard & Deanne Loonin); and (2) shop around for different lenders and different homeowner's insurance providers.  You can also lower your rate by raising your deductible amount.

If you need to repair your credit, keep in mind that:

•        You are not alone.

•        You have legal rights.

•        You can do it by yourself without paying high fees for an attorney or credit repair clinic.

•        Nobody's credit is too "poor" to repair.

•        The first step is to set a budget and stick to it.

•        The second step is to cut up all or most of your credit cards.

Comments (4)

Susan Marsh
PC Marsh Insurance Agency - McCordsville, IN

Dave this is a very good post.  I am an insurance agent in Indiana.  I am with Farmers Insurance Group.  We are a credit score company.  It is hard to explain this to clients.  It seems to them that we are being judgemental.

Do you have an advise on how to approach this subject with the consumer?

Thank you for the information.

Jan 01, 2009 02:31 PM
Dave Edwards
Dave Edwards Realty - Greenville, SC

One thing I always try to do is have my information in black and white so they can read and see it for themselves. For example, when I talk about the market with potential clients I want to have a graph that shows this year to previous years, etc. If it is needed I would also cite other sources who would be considered not biased to help them realize I am not making this information up for the fun of it. And of course, you need to approach the conversation from their perspective. If you can visualize what it would be like to call you and hear this information you will probably tweak your presentation a little. Hope this helps.

Jan 01, 2009 11:59 PM
Anonymous
Donald Stevens

I am an insurance agent that represents mutliple insurance companies.  There are still some companies out there that do not rate on a credit score.  Shopping around regardless of your credit score will allow you to find the company, coverages, and rates that are right for you.

There is a new trend in the insurance industry that may change the use of credit scoring.  Agents are able to rate a policy by using the person in the household that has the higher credit rating.  As agents are adjusting to the credit score process, companies are struggling to use credit scoring as an accurate rating tool. 

The other issue is credit scoring accuracy.  Too many times confusion with health insurance benefits and identity theft is making it harder to accurately determine someones likelihood of filing a claim.

Again, your best option when purchasing homeowners insurance or reviewing your policy is to shop around.  It only costs you time and could save you thousands over the length of your home ownership.

The Home Insurance Specialists

http://www.getgliga.com

Jun 07, 2009 08:06 AM
#3
Dave Edwards
Dave Edwards Realty - Greenville, SC

Thank you for your good advice!

Jun 07, 2009 11:46 PM