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Jeff Farias (Nova M radio) caller says her car insurance went up because of her credit score.

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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:42 PM
Original message
Jeff Farias (Nova M radio) caller says her car insurance went up because of her credit score.
Fucking absurd. :grr:

the people who are in the most financial trouble are having to pay more for things. This makes no sense at all. Talk about wringing blood out of a turnip. To make matters worse, many potential employers are looking at credit ratings. How are you supposed to pay off credit cards if you don't have a job? :crazy:
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Yael Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:46 PM
Response to Original message
1. What in the hun does credit have to do with car insurance?
If I drive like a maniac but pay my bills on time, I then get a better deal?

Thats just plain stupid.
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TomInTib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:49 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. The credit-worthiness of your neighborhood can effect your premiums.
You would not believe the actuarial factors that are used to determine rates.
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:52 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Why is credit a factor, all of a sudden, though?
Have there been a lot of lapses in policies recently? The woman on the radio said she paid all her bills on time and never missed an insurance payment.
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TomInTib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 06:18 PM
Response to Reply #6
15. It's punishment, pure and simple.
It's grossly unfair, but it is a fact of life.

The ZIP in which I reside is one of the wealthiest in the country and our rates are rock-bottom.

I guess the insurance companies don't think we'll be crashing our Ferraris into our Maseratis.
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:51 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. I'm sure they have some bogus justification for it.
Like people who owe a lot of money on their credit cards are more likely to drive erratically because they're stressed out or some such nonsense. Insurance cos. like to act like they base everything on data and actuarial science but they don't. Premiums for car insurance especially seem to be based more on whom they can strong arm more money out of than on actual accident statistics. I still haven't figured out why I pay more because I'm unmarried even though I drive a very boring sedan and am damn near 40 years old.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:55 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. More like.. if they owe money... they're a risk.
:grr:
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Selatius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:57 PM
Response to Reply #5
10. It could be a lot simpler. Perhaps major shareholders hold stock in both credit card/car insurance.
As a result, the policies of car insurance holders may be impacted by what happens in the credit card industry, simply because the same people who own credit card companies may in fact also own insurance companies.
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SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:58 PM
Response to Reply #1
11. and these days, just about ANYONE can pull your credit rating
If you look the least bit "sketchy" they can then justify raising your rates.,:( they can deny you an apartment, a car loan, a job..insurance..you name it.. and it's legal.
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 07:09 PM
Response to Reply #11
18. I predict debtor's prison will be back fairly soon.
:(
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GreenEyedLefty Donating Member (708 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:49 PM
Response to Original message
2. I feel badly for kids growing up nowadays
It's so damned freaky and Big Brotherish. I took my oldest to get her driver's license and I was appalled at the numerous and unnecessary pieces of ID she was required to show.

Not to mention the credit checks she's going to have to put up with in the future.

It's just another way of weeding out the haves and the have nots.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:50 PM
Response to Original message
4. THAT can happen when it's unregulated.
Edited on Thu May-22-08 05:51 PM by Breeze54
MA just went unregulated this year and my car insurance was discounted $180.00! :D

... and I have crappy credit. :( (long story)

Edit: Forgot to add HUGE HAPPY FACE! :P
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CelticWinter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:53 PM
Response to Original message
7. what does a credit score have to do with the
military??? A young man I know scored in the upper percentile of his entrance test for the military and when he went to choose his military job (which he was open to anything he wanted) because of his credit score they wanted him to be a petro driver in Iraq. Must be if you have trouble paying your bills your expendable no matter how smart you are.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:56 PM
Response to Reply #7
9. Just BEING in the military is a risk!!!!
Edited on Thu May-22-08 05:57 PM by Breeze54
:crazy:

In edit: My son scored so high he had his pick of jobs as well
but his car insurance had nothing to do with those scores.
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JANdad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 06:03 PM
Response to Reply #7
14. They justify that by
claiming one with access to sensitive intelligence could possibly be bribed or blackmailed by money to pay bills...
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angstlessk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 05:59 PM
Response to Original message
12. likely, because you do not have extra money for a lawyer to sue their asses!!!
that is why the poor get trampled upon..we do not have a constituency that can afford to lobby or sue!
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 06:01 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. It's a well known fact that being poor in America is very expensive.
Poor people pay a premium for everything because, as you say, they have no recourse to challenge it. :(
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Clark2008 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 06:20 PM
Response to Original message
16. Yes... and you can be turned down because of it, too.
My husband's an insurance agent.
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 08:02 PM
Response to Reply #16
21. Yeah, I heard they're doing that.
I was just surprised to hear they are raising rates on existing policies, even ones that have been paid regularly.
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jwirr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 06:53 PM
Response to Original message
17. Way back in the 70s I worked in Congressman Ed Medvinski's
office. We were asked to deal with some of the insurance bias that kept people from getting insurance. The thing is that underwriters are the people who back the policy and they have all kinds of rights to refuse to insure an individual based on personal information which is often very private. The snoop and they are not required to put their money into any policy they do not like. Back then I think it was about bankruptcy. This was for car insurance but I would assume they are all alike.
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TwixVoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 07:13 PM
Response to Original message
19. Could be justified for SOME jobs
Edited on Thu May-22-08 07:13 PM by TwixVoy
For example, jobs at financial institutions.

Let's say you are applying for a job in which you will be supplying financial advice. Your credit report shows you got a best buy card, circuit city card, target card, etc and maxed them all out then made late payments on them. Would that employer be right in having someone provide financial advice which could make or break people who can't even manage his own finances?

Or what about a person who will be handling lots of money in his job. Let's say his credit report shows that owes substantial debts. Could that encourage him to steal?

Not saying it IS justified to use credit reports, but I bet this is the logic behind it.
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-22-08 07:59 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. Well yeah, that's always been the case with those professions.
But I don't see why you can't work somewhere where you have no access to substantial amounts of cash or checks. God knows most stores and things have pretty intensive surveillance. And you don't have to work the cash register. Besides, given our current economic situation, with people putting gas and groceries on their credit cards, credit scores must be tanking all over the place. Pretty soon no one will be good enough to hire.

Funny thing about financial advisors, whom I work with quite a bit. Many of them are TERRIBLE with their own finances. It's kinda like the mechanic's car and the cobbler's shoes....
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