What is a credit based insurance score

A credit risk score is a number, indicating the likelihood that you'll be very late paying your bills. It is produced by evaluating information in your credit report at a credit reporting agency. The FICO® Scores are used by most lenders. They are available to lenders from any of the major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) which calculate the scores using mathematical models built by FICO. Credit scores are used by financial institutions and retail credit grantors for all kinds of decisions, such as whether you get a credit card, or what mortgage interest rate you will receive.

A different kind of score is used by most insurers in most states to help evaluate the risk of insurance applicants and policyholders. This score, generally called a credit-based insurance score, indicates whether you are more or less likely to have insurance claims in the near future that will result in a loss for the insurer.

There are obvious similarities between your credit risk score and your insurance score. They are both based on your current credit report data. Also they are both calculated using scoring models that FICO built.

However there are important differences. Credit risk scoring models are built to predict the likelihood that consumers will become seriously delinquent in repaying borrowed money. The insurance risk scoring models, by contrast, are built to predict the likely "loss relativity" of any individual. Loss relativity measures whether the cost of your insurance claims relative to your premiums will be higher or lower than average.

While many insurers use insurance scores, they don't use the scores in isolation to set pricing, nor are they used to deny insurance to any consumer.

Insurance scores are used differently from the way a credit grantor would use a credit risk score. For example, an insurance score is most often just one of many factors used in an insurer's underwriting evaluation. Most insurers use an insurance score along with a motor vehicle report, claims history report, home inspection and other kinds of information in their decision-making process.

In fact, for nearly two decades insurers have used credit-based insurance scores in most states because of the benefits they bring. Among the advantages of insurance scores:

  • Consistency. Insurance scores are usually applied to help automate strightforward decisions, in combination with the insurer's underwriting rules and other criteria. All applicants are therefore treated according to a consistently applied standard.

  • Fairer decisions. Insurance scores are completely non-discriminatory and use no data on gender, nationality, ethnicity, address or income. Only credit-related information is included, and its use is governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

  • Better decisions. Insurers can better forecast future performance and thus make sure that each person pays a rate that more closely corresponds to the risk of loss they represent. This means that if you are less likely to have claims that will result in losses for the insurance company, you will pay a lower premium. Similarly those people who will likely have larger claims will end up paying higher premiums. In this way insurance scores help your insurance company make sure that you won't end up paying more than you should to help cover someone else's future claims. Because most people have good credit, even during turbulent economic times, most people will pay less for insurance when insurance scores are used as part of the insurer's policy premium decision.

  • Efficiency. Their use of insurance scores helps insurers streamline their operations and use key underwriting information and other resources better. This allows insurers to pass savings along to you. Also, because insurance scores are easy to use, you enjoy the added benefit of faster underwriting decisions—meaning you'll get better service, quicker.

    The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.

    SHARE:

    • Share this article on Facebook Facebook
    • Share this article on Twitter Twitter
    • Share this article on LinkedIn Linkedin
    • Share this article via email Email

    On This Page

    • What is an insurance score?
    • Why is an insurance score important?
    • How is an insurance score calculated?
    • What is a good insurance score?
    • How to improve your insurance score
    • Frequently asked questions

    On This Page Jump to Menu List

    On This Page

    • What is an insurance score?
    • Why is an insurance score important?
    • How is an insurance score calculated?
    • What is a good insurance score?
    • How to improve your insurance score
    • Frequently asked questions

    Prev Next

    What is a credit based insurance score

    fizkes/Getty Images

    6 minute read Published November 29, 2022

    CheckmarkExpert verified

    Bankrate logoHow is this page expert verified?

    At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously.

    “Expert verified” means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced.

    Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content.

    About our Review Board

    Written by

    Joshua Cox-Steib

    Written by Joshua Cox-SteibArrow RightInsurance Contributor

    Joshua Cox-Steib has two years of experience in writing for insurance domains such as Bankrate, Coverage.com, The Simple Dollar, Reviews.com, and more. His work has also been featured on such sites as MSN and BBB (Better Business Bureau). His insurance writing career has spanned across multiple product lines, with a primary focus on auto insurance, life insurance, and home insurance.

    • Get in contact with Joshua Cox-Steib via Email Email

    Joshua Cox-Steib

    Edited by

    Maggie Kempken

    Edited by Maggie KempkenArrow RightInsurance Editor

    Maggie Kempken is an insurance editor for Bankrate. She helps manage the creation of insurance content that meets the highest quality standards for accuracy and clarity to help Bankrate readers navigate complex information about home, auto and life insurance. She also focuses on ensuring that Bankrate’s insurance content represents and adheres to the Bankrate brand.

    Maggie Kempken

    Reviewed by

    Mark Friedlander

    Reviewed by Mark FriedlanderArrow RightDirector of corporate communications, Insurance Information Institute

    Mark Friedlander is director of corporate communications at III, a nonprofit organization focused on providing consumers with a better understanding of insurance.

    • Connect with Mark Friedlander on Twitter Twitter
    • Connect with Mark Friedlander on LinkedIn Linkedin
    About our review board

    Mark Friedlander

    Bankrate logo

    The Bankrate promise

    InfoMore info

    At Bankrate, we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. To help readers understand how insurance affects their finances, we have licensed insurance professionals on staff who have spent a combined 47 years in the auto, home and life insurance industries. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation of how we make money. Our content is backed by Coverage.com, LLC, a licensed entity (NPN: 19966249). For more information, please see our Insurance Disclosure.

    Bankrate logo

    The Bankrate promise

    Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next.

    Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts, who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy.

    Our insurance team is composed of agents, data analysts, and customers like you. They focus on the points consumers care about most — price, customer service, policy features and savings opportunities — so you can feel confident about which provider is right for you.

    • We guide you throughout your search and help you understand your coverage options.
    • We provide up-to-date, reliable market information to help you make confident decisions.
    • We reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible.

    All providers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide. And we constantly review our criteria to ensure we’re putting accuracy first.

    Bankrate logo

    Editorial integrity

    Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.

    Key Principles

    We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

    Editorial Independence

    Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.

    Bankrate logo

    How we make money

    You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.

    Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.

    We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.

    Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.

    Bankrate logo

    Insurance Disclosure

    Coverage.com, LLC is a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 19966249). Coverage.com services are only available in states where it is licensed. Coverage.com may not offer insurance coverage in all states or scenarios. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way.