I received this email from GEICO today:

Edit:
Our sales and service representatives do not have access to the details of your credit information. Other companies who view your credit report will not see the GEICO inquiry. It will be visible only to you. Our inquiry will not affect your credit score or credit rating. If you commit to purchase a policy with GEICO, we will also confirm your motor vehicle record and claims history. As permitted by law, we may also review your motor vehicle record, claims history, and/or credit information in connection with any renewal.

Not sure if the above part from their site is true

 

Most insurance companies check your credit and give you a rate accordingly. I have read somewhere that if you have claimed bankruptcy it can affect your insurance.

 

I think they smoke lizard feet...gets you messed up...

Or they could be huffing 'Jenkem'...
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...72jenkem1.html

 

In English - they did a credit check on you, and because of the results of that they wouldn't/couldn't give you their lowest rate. I've gotten similar messages from my insurance carrier at renewal time only with prior traffic tickets instead of credit rating.

 

You may think you have a excelletn credit report, but unless you check it yourself, you cannot know for sure. It is a heck of a racket they have going on there.

Your credit can go bad if you simply have a higher percentage of possible debt to earning ratio. Yes, having too many open credit cards can hurt your credit rating.

Credit ratings are nothing more than a scam perpetuated by the banking industry to allow them a legal means of not offering you fair percentages on loans and as a means to bump your rates if they need to in order to provide more profits for them.

You have to check your credit reports, at least twice a year, to stay on top of them. Another scam,,but one we cannot avoid. Heck of a deal they have going on there.

 

Yeah just paid 8$ for the credit score and it's uhh better than a good amount of the population. Here's the TransUnion summary:

Summary
Given that you have a high credit score, lenders should be able to conclude that you are capable of repaying your debts. This would then enable lenders to provide you with good interest rates and loan offers.

Scam sounds about right.

 

Huh? How do they do that? An inquiry is an inquiry, no?? Anybody have 411 on that?

 

I've been with State Farm for nearly 20 years and never once have they inspected my credit rating or motor vehicle record. I've gotten plenty of tickets (not a lot but some), one major claim, a few minor claims, and never have they raised my rates for anything. In fact, my rates constantly seem to go down.

Cute little lizard they got though. . . .

 

You should not have to pay for a once a year free credit report. Tips from a quick search -

According to the FTC website, there is only one website that is authorized to give out free credit reports. Here's what the FTC website says:

"Important information from the Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency: annualcreditreport.com is the ONLY authorized online source for you to get a free credit report under federal law. You can get a free report from each of the three national credit reporting companies every 12 months. Some other sites claim to offer 'free' credit reports, but may charge you for another product if you accept a 'free' report."

The AnnualCreditReport.com website was easy to use and we were able to access all three credit reports without paying a penny.

You can also get your free credit report via phone by calling 877-322-8228. Just remember, you can only request one free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies each year.

Why do you need a copy of your credit report?

You might be wondering why you'd want a copy of your credit report. There are many reasons you should check your credit report, including making sure your information is correct (which is important if you want to apply for a loan or a new credit card). You very likely will find mistakes on your credit report.

Further, getting a copy of your credit report is important to help monitor against identity theft. You can read more about identity theft here.

Here are four tips for getting your free credit report:

Tip 1: Watch your spelling if you type in the web address -- many of the bogus sites are just one letter away from the site you want.

Tip 2: To gain maximum benefit, you may want to space out your free credit reports from each of the 3 credit bureaus over the year. This will allow you to see changes that occur over time.

Tip 3: Print or download your credit report(s) immediately. You may not be able to gain access again for free later.

Tip 4: After you get your free credit report, quit your browser so no one else can access it."

 

Annoying note about the free credit reports: you'll get your reports free from the three credit tracking companies, but you still have to fork over some cash if you want to see your credit score.

 

Exactly.

 

http://www.ftc.gov/freereports

 

Free trial - http://www.myfico.com/?LPID=ficorp3

 

GEICO. A small green lizard that speaks with a British accent. Priceless. I laugh everytime I see those commercials. I'm sorry. It's like that Arby's commercial with the Irish dancing chimps. It's funny. Here's the link:http://youtube.com/watch?v=i7YMVKjMOZo

 

We are amused.

 

While you may not be able to get everything you want fixed on your report, you WILL be able to have comments of some sort put in. For example, when I bought my first home, the largest problem I found was closed accounts not showing up as closed. Something like 15-20 of them. So you send a letter to each and every one of them, and they HAVE to act and provide a written response in a certain amount of time. Most ended up with a comment "account closed at my request" or something to that effect.

one other note. I found that the three reports had different errors, so while you can space them out over a year, there's no guarantee that you'll get the best information.

Matt

 

I happened to get a years subscription to TransUnion when my mortgage company lost a laptop full of mortgage data. It was interesting to check it out. I found that Honda Finance had a "dispute" on my report. When I checked into it they said it had something to do with a lease I had. I had returned the car 5 months previous. A little investigation and they cleared it up, no problem.
My wife and I made an effort to pay off balances and tweak our credit to see if we could get our numbers up over 800 by the time our subscription ran out. (btw goal achieved! granted we only had to move it a few points)

 

There's something called a "soft" credit check - it doesn't provide as much information as a full-blown credit check, but it also doesn't negatively affect your credit score.

 

Legend has it that Geico donates money to police departments to buy radar guns, then raises rates or drops coverage when their clients get the resultant speeding tickets. They also refused to insure in NJ for a long time while I lived there, but advertised heavily on all the local channels. Hate those guys.

Lizards are cold blooded.

I've been with State Farm for years, have good credit, and am quite pleased. Any shopping around has resulted in no changes.

 

I don't have insurance through Geico, but I do have good credit and my insurance agent said it was the largest factor in my rate. I don't have the exact numbers, but it's huge - like a 40% discount. It really surprised me, I didn't know they even considered it a factor. The fine print of your insurance application probably authorizes them to run a check.

 

I found that after paying off all of my revolving credit card debt, (About 20K worth), my score shot up through the roof (I saw an increase of about 125 points). So if you can stay out of unsecured debt, it really helps. It also makes a huge impact on your loan rate. I went from a 650 Fico @ 7.19% to a 776 Fico at 6.39%. It really makes a difference

 

I wouldn't worry about GEICO or Progressive. They both sound great on premiums until you have a claim. Then prepare for the fight of your life.

 

I went with Safeco. *Stomps the lizard*

 

Aussie.

You'd be surprised how many of life's travels include credit reports--opening a checking account, applying for employment...

 

I went thru a similar problem with Allstate on a renewal. They unexpectedly raised my rates after receiving the credit report.

After much complaining, I finally got thru to the department in charge of making the credit analysis, and this is what I found ...


Their analysis is completely independent of credit rating or credit score -- they have their own system.

I was downgraded because I had "too many" credit cards, and because I had made "too many" applications for new cards that year.

The number of new credit applications that is deemed "too many" is one! In my case, my wife accepted one of those "open a new account with us and get an immediate discount" deals at a department store. The rate increase totally blew out the discount!

As for "too many cards" -- the fact that none of them ever carried an outstanding balance was irrelevant. Regardless of payment history, or income, they have a maximum number of cards you can have before they hit you with a surcharge.

I think it is all just a scam to raise rates.