Insurance companies can differ on their rating system and the factors that they take in to determine the rate for a person seeking auto insurance. Many insurance companies do run credit checks on applicants as part of the application process.

Statistics have proven that drivers with bad credit history have generally filed more auto insurance claims and are determined to be a higher insurance risk thus are charged a premium that is equal to what the insurance company believes the risk is that they are assuming. This opinion is still open for debate as far as CarInsurance.com is concerned.

Insurance rates are not purely calculated based on credit history. There are other variables such as where you live, the type of car, driving record, etc that also are factored in. If the car insurance company you are using does look at your credit score then it will help if the other factors, such as your driving record are clean and can help balance out a bad credit history with some rating systems. In general, if you have a bad credit rating it will negatively impact your insurance rate.

Not all car insurance companies will use a credit scores as part of the rating process. In some states Direct General does not use credit for rating. All of our other carriers use it as a rating factor. The amount that a credit score can affect your rates in some states is governed by the state's insurance regulator. To find out if your state has regulations regarding auto insurance companies using your credit history as part of the rating process contact this state agency.

Comment Update: Be aware that rates have increased dramatically since 2000, refer to our state pages to see the increase in your area.