Credit scoring is here to stay in insurance, and for good reason:
For both personal auto liability and homeowners, credit score was related to claim experience even after considering other commonly used rating variables.
Typically, the claim experience for the 10 percent of policyholders with the worst credit scores was 1.5 to 2 times greater than that of the 10 percent of policyholders with the best credit scores. The magnitude of the variation… remains unchanged even after considering other commonly used rating variables. (TDI Supplemental Study on Credit and Insurance, 2005, p.2)
But that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for all clients or all cases, and collecting credit information to provide a quote is definitely not always easy. At iMGA we’re all about EASY, so instead of relying heavily on credit – we offer its use as just one option.
Programs that Don’t Use Credit At All
At iMGA all of our admitted, San Antonio Indemnity Company-underwritten programs rate without using credit scoring:
- MobileHome
- TDP1/TDP3
- HOA/HOA+
- Vacant
Programs with Optional Credit Scoring
The Texas Elite Non-Admitted HOA/HOA+/HOB program offers the option of using credit scoring in rating. If you collect the insured’s social security number we will order an insurance credit score.
Be careful with this one, though – you have the option to not order credit score, but if you don’t the odds are very high that your insured will miss out on what could be a substantial discount. On one policy recently the difference was over $647, and we’ve seen it reach even higher.
Programs with Mandatory Credit Scoring
We don’t have any of those!
So choose your program and choose your option – credit or not. Either way, we make it EASY.