Reader question:
I’m told that I got a bad car insurance rating because my credit is bad. How do I fix that?
Mary
It takes patience, to begin with.
Credit ratings are one of the biggest factors in your car insurance rating, and if you have a bad credit score by the car insurance companies weigh it, you have pretty much no chance of getting a cheap car insurance rate. It’s a little controversial still, but if you see how the battles are going in various states, it looks like the car insurance companies are winning out and credit scores as a factor in car insurance rates is here to stay. So, in order to make sure you get a good deal on car insurance, you’ll want to fix your credit report. How do you do this?
- Get a copy of your credit report. The three credit reporting bureaus are required by law to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once a year. It’s extremely important to know what you have on this report, because it affects almost every aspect of your life, from your ability to apply for a credit card to the ability to get a car.
- Get your credit score. You can get this score from the same bureaus, but they’ll charge you to access it. It isn’t much that they charge, usually under twenty dollars. But knowing what kind of credit score you have can also help quite a bit.
- If you have mistakes on your report, correct them. Little mistakes can cause a lot of problems, and it’s extremely frustrating to have your life negatively affected by something you never did.
- Any items in bad standing on your report, contact them and set up a payment plan. You can usually negotiate to pay a smaller amount or in some cases even get items taken off of your report.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.