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Posts Tagged ‘score’

Can Your Credit Score Predict How Good a Driver You Are?

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

If you are old enough, you can remember when bankers granted loans based on a paper file and a face to face interview. If you got the loan, chances are you looked a lot like the banker. Same race, same gender. That was the downside of the good old days.

Enter the FICO score which does not take into account gender, race, ethnicity, age, creed or disability. FICO predicts future financial behavior based on past performance. Obviously this is a more objective evaluation of credit worthiness not to mention more equitable. So for what it is, a predictor of credit worthiness, it is a great tool for those lending credit ( free credit report and score ).

But does it predict what kind of driver you are? Can it guarantee what kind of worker you are? What part of the score predicts how healthy you will be or how long you will live?

Apparently the answer to those questions is secret because the companies and organizations that use your FICO scores and credit reports to underwrite their business are not sharing their evaluation process for “competitive” reasons. Where did they get the idea to use this information in the first place?

Let’s take a little look back in time. Remember when there were more than just three credit reporting agencies? Actually they liked to be called bureaus back then. Ever notice how they like to sound like an arm of the government? When the government stopped naming entities bureaus and changed to agencies, so did the credit reporting people. Well they are not part of the government; they are for profit organizations that sell data you provide.

With the quantum leap in information technology, the cost of gathering and processing your data dropped dramatically and the credit bureau business consolidated into the big three. Competition became pretty fierce and the cost of a credit report dropped. Facing reduced margins, credit agencies looked for a way to repurpose the information they gathered on individuals.

According to the Center For Economic Justice, a consumer advocate group, the credit agencies started pitching the idea that credit reports and FICO scores could predict more than credit worthiness, it could predict how a person would behave. It was pitched as a cheap background tool, an inexpensive underwriting device and as an identity verification tool. The agencies literally created the market.

But is using a credit report or free credit score a realistic way to predict behavior? Typically, the lower your score, the more it costs you for goods or services and the greater it detracts from applications ranging from employment to insurance.

Two groups of insurance agents, United Farmers Agents and the Association of Professional Allstate Agents think credit scores have nothing to do with underwriting insurance. Understandably, the agents lose commissions when the insurance is priced higher than some can afford. Their argument is a person with identical driving record, car and claims history of that of another person should not pay a higher premium than simply based on a lower FICO score. “No wonder there are so many uninsured drivers” says one Allstate agent.

The same arguments can be made for health and life insurance as well. In essence, those who can afford it least end up paying the most.

So what can you do to prevent being charged for a low score? The credit agencies have the answer. They will sell you monitoring services so you can keep track of your record and dispute any errors you may find. That’s right; you pay them so you can correct your data. Data, that was incorrectly entered by them in the first place.

Is it time for reform? Credit reports and scores have a legitimate purpose when it comes to lending, but without empirical proof, should it be allowed to be used as an underwriting tool.

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Free Online Credit Reports: Easy Way to Keep Credit Records

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Free credit reports keep records of your financial life and need to be checked regularly. They have to be up-to-date and the information contained by them correct. Now it would be a hassle if you had to keep visiting credit reporting agencies for updating them. But with free online credit reports, you can avoid such inconveniences. Such reports help you do the checking anytime you want as you can get free and easy access by just logging on the internet.

Free online credit reports are credit reports that contain information of your financial records as well as your current financial status. These may include your personal details, your credit details, any public records regarding financial matters and also the inquiry made by any third party on your record. You get the report simply by submitting an online application form for free. Reviews are made quickly and you will have your free online credit reports in no time.

Credit report needs to be updated on the regular and any faulty data needs to be removed immediately. By getting it online for free, you are giving yourself the opportunity to check it whenever you can without having to pay a personal visit to the credit reporting agency. If any change has been made, you will get to know it instantly. Conversely, if any recent record has not been entered, you can also remedy the situation at the earliest. You also get the chance to contact your agency and inquire about the errors so that your credit status remains clean.

The biggest advantage that you get through online credit reports free is that the services you get are prompt and free of cost. You can get the report as well as get it updated at home or wherever you happen to be as long as you can get access to the internet. They are also easy to find. You just have to browse the internet and check out the various sites which offer them.
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