Poor credit brings higher insurance rates, study reveals

A homeowner’s credit history may have a big impact on how much is paid for home insurance, according to a new study commissioned by insuranceQuotes.com.

The study examined the average impact that a credit-based insurance score has on what owners pay for home insurance.

Owners who have a fair credit score were found to pay 32 percent more for home insurance on average than someone with stellar credit, the study found. That’s up from 29 percent last year.

An owners’ premium may rise by an average of 100 percent for those with poor credit, the study found.

According to insuranceQuotes.com, a credit-based insurance score is different from a credit score and includes several factors such as length of credit history, late payments, collections and new applications for credit. The score assigned is to help insurers assess the likelihood an owner will file a future claim.

“It has been proven statistically time and time again that the way someone manages his or her credit correlates very strongly to whether or not they will have a future homeowner loss,” said Lamont Boyd, insurance underwriting expert at FICO. “Not that every insurer uses this data the same way. They all have their unique models. But the underlying principle is the same across the board.”

Jim Lynch, chief actuary with the Insurance Information Institute, says that the higher a home owner’s credit score, the less likely that person is to incur claims. However, those with lower credit scores have been found to be more likely to file a claim in the future, Lynch said.