How to Check Your Auto Insurance Score

An auto insurance score is a numerical rating, primarily based on your credit history, used by insurance providers to assess the likelihood of future claims. This score helps determine your auto insurance premiums. Understanding your score and its components can help consumers navigate the insurance landscape. This article explains what an auto insurance score entails, how it is determined, methods for obtaining it, and strategies to influence it.

Understanding Your Auto Insurance Score

An auto insurance score, often called a credit-based insurance score, is a proprietary numerical rating insurance companies use to predict the likelihood of claims. Insurers use this score to evaluate risk and set policy premiums. A higher score generally indicates a lower risk of future claims, which can lead to more favorable insurance rates. This score is distinct from a traditional credit score, though both are built using similar underlying credit data.

While a standard credit score assesses your ability to repay debt, an auto insurance score predicts the likelihood of future claims. Each insurance company may use its own unique methodology, so your score could vary across insurers. This predictive modeling helps insurers price policies more accurately, aiming for lower premiums for those less likely to file claims. Certain states, such as California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts, restrict or prohibit the use of credit information in determining auto insurance rates.

Key Elements Shaping Your Score

Your auto insurance score is primarily influenced by information found in your credit reports, alongside your driving and claims history. Payment history is a significant component, often accounting for approximately 40% of the score, reflecting how consistently you pay your bills on time. Timely payments generally indicate a lower risk to insurers.

Credit utilization, the amount of outstanding debt relative to available credit, also plays a substantial role, typically making up about 30% of the score. Managing debt responsibly and keeping balances low can positively affect this. The length of your credit history contributes approximately 15% to the score. A longer history of responsible credit use is generally viewed favorably.

New credit applications (about 10%) and the diversity of your credit accounts, or credit mix, (around 5%) are also considered. Beyond credit data, your driving record, including past traffic violations and accidents, and your history of previous insurance claims contribute to the overall risk assessment.

Steps to Obtain Your Auto Insurance Score

Auto insurance scores are proprietary and provided by specialized consumer reporting agencies like LexisNexis. While you may not always be able to directly request your exact insurance score from every insurer, you can generally obtain consumer reports containing the underlying information used to calculate it.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion via AnnualCreditReport.com. Reviewing these credit reports is beneficial because their information forms the foundation of your auto insurance score.

When requesting information, provide personal details such as your name, addresses, date of birth, and Social Security Number for identity verification. When an insurer reviews your credit for an insurance score, it typically results in a “soft inquiry” on your credit report, which does not negatively impact your credit score. If an insurance company takes an “adverse action,” such as denying coverage or offering a higher premium due to your insurance score, the FCRA requires them to notify you and provide information on how to obtain the report.

Interpreting and Influencing Your Score

A higher auto insurance score typically indicates a lower risk profile to insurers, potentially leading to more favorable premium rates. While specific score ranges and their meanings can vary by insurer, reviewing the report for accuracy and understanding the influencing factors is important.

To positively influence your auto insurance score, maintain responsible financial habits. Consistently paying bills on time is a significant factor, as payment history carries substantial weight. Keeping credit utilization low and paying down existing debt can also improve your score. Avoid opening multiple new credit accounts in a short period, as this can signal increased risk.

Regularly checking your credit reports for errors and disputing inaccuracies can positively affect your insurance score. Beyond credit management, maintaining a clean driving record by avoiding accidents and traffic violations contributes to a lower risk profile for insurers.