Does an Insurance Score Show as a Hit Against Credit Report?

When insurance companies use your credit score to underwrite a policy for you, this inquiry does not affect your credit. It is known as a “soft hit” and does not appear on your credit report. Only inquiries made when you are applying for credit will affect your credit report.

Insurance companies use credit inquiries to increase the accuracy of insurance risk evaluation. Doing this with thousands of consumers allows companies to provide insurance at reduced cost. It may also make insurance available to more consumers.

Insurance scores are used along with the usual underwriting processes such as your motor vehicle record, insured’s age, year and model of the vehicle, loss reports and other information collected at the time of the insurance application. The better the insurance score, the better your rate in most cases as the scores do predict the likelihood of claims.

How can you improve your score? By paying your bills on time, keep balances low on unsecured revolving debt like credit cards and only open new credit accounts as needed.

Don’t be afraid when an insurance agent asks if they can run your application with insurance scoring. It quite possibly will save you money in the long run.

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The Unitrin family of insurance companies serves clients in markets across the United States.  More than 6 million policyholders have their basic insurance and financial needs met by a nationwide network of career agents and independent agents and brokers.  As one of America’s leading financial services providers, the Unitrin family specializes in property, casualty, life health and accident insurance.

Are you getting car insurance for the first time or have an auto insurance requirement for SR-22 filing? Serenity Insurance can help – we offer auto insurance in 47 states for both preferred and high risk drivers. Call us toll free today at 1-800-774-0520 or use our car insurance quote form.

The recreational vehicle (RV) market has grown over the last 30 years to include modest pop-up tent-trailers, small to large travel trailers which include slide-outs, and the more expensive motor-home or very expensive coaches.

It is critical to obtain insurance coverage for these vehicles because replacement costs are expensive.  When speaking with your insurance agent about a policy that will cover your RV, be sure ask about coverages like the following:

• Total Loss Replacement
• Emergency Vacation Expense
• Disappearing Deductibles
• Full-Timer’s Package
• Replacement Costs for Personal Effects
• 24-Hour Roadside Assistance
• Windshield Coverage

Some of these coverages are more important than others so it is not suggested that you get them all, but all have value to you depending on your use and needs. 

For example, if you have a relatively expensive RV, you might want to consider Total Loss Replacement coverage.  This coverage would replace your RV with a new model of similar make and quality if your RV was totaled in an accident.

For those who use their RV several times during the year, Emergency Vacation Expense coverage is desirable.  This coverage provides cash for lodging and transportation if the RV is damaged during a trip.  Replacement Costs for Personal Effects protects the insured’s personal items such as clothing, cell phones, cameras, computers, etc.

The Full-Timer’s Package provides extra coverage for customers who use their RV as a home for some part of the year.

If you are a camper or an RV’er, consider speaking with your agent about what kind of policy you think you need for your particular unit.

Serenity Insurance provides motor home and travel trailer insurance through several insurance companies.  As an independent insurance broker, Serenity can get the best policy with a competitive price for your RV.

Call us toll free today to obtain insurance for your RV or travel trailer: 800-774-0520.

State Farm couldn’t get a massive rate hike, so it’s pulling out of Florida.

Well, not really pulling out. More like cherry-picking.

The company plans to ditch all 1.2 million property insurance policies across the state, including residential homes, condominiums, renters’ insurance, churches and businesses. The cancellation goes for fire/theft policies and windstorm/hurricane policies.

But the company wants Floridians to know that its agents will still be happy to sell you auto, life and health insurance.

Gee, thanks but no thanks.

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Here’s the way I see Florida’s property insurance predicament. We’ve got a pre-existing condition that no insurer wants to touch.

Namely, we’re prone to hurricanes.

Our country’s dysfunctional private health insurance system likes to weed out those with pre-existing conditions (like cancer, diabetes, etc.) because they aren’t profitable. Those customers tend to use more in resources than they pay into the system.

And now the same thing is happening with property insurance, especially in high-risk states like Florida and high-risk coastal areas like Broward and Palm Beach County.

Once upon a time, spreading risk and covering people who actually might need your services was considered part of the insurance business. Insurers would insure many to cover the potential high costs of the few, and at the end of the day there would still be a little profit.

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