Glossary term
Credit-based insurance score
Credit-based insurance score: A score derived from your credit report and weighted to predict insurance losses. Used as a rating factor in most states; banned in California, Hawaii and Massachusetts, with Michigan barring use of the credit score itself.
Where this term matters
Guides and entries on this site that use the term.
Guide
How Credit Affects Auto Insurance Rates
What a credit-based insurance score is, how it differs from a credit score, how much it moves premiums, and why insurers are allowed to use it.
Guide
States That Ban Credit in Auto Insurance
The states where insurers cannot use credit to rate auto insurance—California, Hawaii, Massachusetts—plus Michigan's credit-score ban and the states that restrict it.
Guide
How to Find Auto Insurers That Don't Check Credit
Where to find auto insurers that do not use credit or weight it lightly—non-standard specialists, telematics-first programmes, pay-per-mile insurers—and how to ask.
Guide
How Much More Auto Insurance Costs With Bad Credit
Typical premium differences between credit tiers, how the effect compares with tickets and accidents, and how it varies by state and insurer.
Guide
How to Improve Your Insurance Score
The specific actions that raise a credit-based insurance score—utilisation, on-time payments, disputing errors—and how to get your insurer to re-rate.
Entry
What an Insurance Adverse Action Notice Means
If credit raised your auto insurance rate, you receive an adverse action notice. What it says, what rights it gives you and what to do with it.
Entry
Telematics Auto Insurance With Bad Credit: How Driving Tracking Can Lower Your Premium
Learn how telematics and usage-based car insurance substitute driving habits for credit scores, helping drivers with poor or thin credit secure lower premiums.
Entry
Moving to a State That Bans Credit in Auto Insurance: How Your Rate Changes
Discover what happens to your car insurance premium when moving to a state like California, Michigan, or Massachusetts where credit scoring is prohibited by law.
Entry
Can an Auto Insurer Cancel Your Policy if Your Credit Score Drops?
Learn whether an auto insurer can cancel or non-renew your policy over a drop in credit, what state laws require, and your rights under adverse action rules.
Entry
Michigan Auto Insurance Without Credit Checks: State Rules Explained
Understand Michigan's statutory ban on credit scoring under MCL 500.2111, how auto insurance rates are calculated, and how drivers can save on coverage.