How do I know what my insurance rating is?

You can check the underlying data for your credit-based insurance score by requesting a free copy of your credit report from Annual Credit Report.

How to Check and Monitor Your Score

Insurance companies use proprietary formulas (such as those from FICO or LexisNexis) that are not directly viewable by consumers as a single standalone number. Instead, you can track the factors that build your score:

• Check your credit reports: Order your reports from the three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) via Annual Credit Report to look for errors.
• Request your CLUE report: Review your Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange report from LexisNexis to check your personal property and auto claims history.
• Ask your insurer: Request your specific risk tier or ask if a credit-based insurance score was used when your insurance company provides you with a quote or renewal rate.

What Influences an Insurance Score

Credit-based insurance scores weigh financial data differently than traditional lending credit scores:

• Payment history (40%): Timely payments on past and current debts.
• Outstanding debt (30%): Total amount of active debt you owe.
• Credit history length (15%): Age of your oldest and newest credit accounts.
• Pursuit of new credit (10%): Recent applications for lines of credit (which register as soft inquiries and do not lower your score).
• Credit mix (5%): Variety of credit types, such as mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards.

Never admit fault, apologize, or downplay your injuries when speaking to an insurance adjuster after an accident.

Statements to Avoid

• "I'm sorry" or "It was my fault": Insurers treat apologies as a legal admission of liability, which can reduce or eliminate your compensation.
• "I'm fine" or "I'm not hurt": Adrenaline can mask severe conditions like internal bleeding or traumatic brain injuries that appear days later. Early statements that you are fine are used to deny later claims.
• Guesses or speculation: Never estimate speeds, distances, or timing. Stick strictly to objective facts you know for certain.
• Recorded statements: You can decline requests for a recorded interview until you consult legal counsel, as adjusters use these recordings to trap you in inconsistencies.

Safe Communication Guidelines

• Provide only basic facts like the date, time, location, and your contact or policy details.
• Refer the adjuster to a qualified Car Accident Lawyer to manage further discussions and protect your rights.

Allstate frequently tops lists from legal experts, consumer advocates, and industry surveys as having one of the worst reputations in the insurance industry.

Commonly Cited Companies with Poor Reputations

Legal professionals and customer satisfaction rankings (such as J.D. Power's Property Claims survey data) frequently single out a few major carriers for slow payouts, low settlement offers, or high complaint volumes:

• Allstate: Often ranked number one on lists of worst insurers due to aggressive "deny, delay, defend" tactics, heavy reliance on internal software to undervalue claims, and low customer satisfaction scores in property claims.
• Liberty Mutual: Frequently criticized by personal injury lawyers and policyholders for low auto and home settlement offers, high rates of claim disputes, and frequent policy non-renewals.
• State Farm: Nationally recognized for using strict denial or delay tactics, particularly misclassifying wind or flood damage on property claims to avoid payouts.
• Unum: Noted primarily in disability insurance for a long-standing reputation of unfairly delaying or denying valid long-term claims.
• Farmers Insurance: Criticized for incentivizing adjusters to meet low payout goals and utilizing restrictive policy adjustments.

Why These Reputations Exist

• Deny, Delay, Defend: Insurers sometimes use internal software calculators to slash medical or property repair estimates far below actual market costs.
• Profit Incentives: Critics and lawsuits have alleged that certain large carriers tie adjuster bonuses or performance metrics to minimizing payout totals.
• Market Withdrawals: Massive rate hikes and sudden policy cancellations in high-risk disaster states (like California and Florida) have sharply damaged public perception for carriers like Allstate, State Farm, and Farmers.

You can improve your credit-based insurance score by building better financial and credit habits that mirror what lenders and insurers look for on your credit report.

Key Steps to Raise Your Insurance Score

• Pay bills on time: Your payment history makes up about 40% of a credit-based insurance score, so consistent, on-time payments are crucial.
• Keep credit balances low: Try to use a small percentage of your available credit limit to show low credit utilization.
• Check your credit reports: Order your reports from major bureaus, look for errors, and dispute any mistakes right away.
• Keep old accounts open: A longer credit history shows stability, so avoid closing your oldest open credit cards.
• Limit new applications: Apply for new loans or credit cards only when necessary, as frequent hard inquiries can temporarily lower your standing.

You can learn more about how these metrics work through resources like Policygenius or CNBC Select. Note that a few states (like California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts) do not allow insurers to use credit scores when setting rates.

For measuring an insurance company's financial stability and ability to pay claims, A.M. Best is widely considered the most accurate and authoritative rating agency.

Why A.M. Best is the Gold Standard

• Industry Specialization: Unlike general credit agencies (like Moody's or S&P), A.M. Best focuses exclusively on the insurance industry and has rated carriers since 1906.
• Financial Strength Ratings (FSRs): They measure an insurer's balance sheet strength, operating performance, and business profile to predict whether they can handle catastrophic payouts.
• The Scale: Grades range from A++ and A+ (Superior) down to D (Poor). Most reliable major insurers fall between A- and A++.

Understanding the Limits of "Accuracy"

No single rating tells the whole story because different agencies measure entirely different things:

• Financial Ratings vs. Customer Service: An A.M. Best rating only confirms a company has the cash to pay claims; it does not measure how polite the adjusters are or how fast they process paperwork.
• Customer Satisfaction: For real-world claims handling and customer service experiences, J.D. Power surveys and consumer indexes provide a more accurate picture of daily customer interactions.
• Cost and Value: Sites like NerdWallet or U.S. News Best Car Insurance Companies track pricing, discounts, and regional availability.