By Madeline Klein on June 9, 2017 in Say's Spotlight
Chances are if you've interacted with Say at all, you've heard about something called an insurance score. Since most insurance providers use the insurance score to help determine a driver's rate, we wanted to make sure drivers knew and understood their score. That's why we show it for free in every quote and renew it every six months for Say customers.
Quick Background
Like a credit score, an insurance score is based on financial factors. So with every score we give, we show the top factors affecting that score. If a factor is positive, a driver knows to maintain his or her good financial habits. If it's negative, a driver can work to improve the factor and increase their score over time.
The general idea (and statistical correlation) is the more responsible you are with your money, the more likely you are to be a safe driver. Simple enough right? Well, when Mark W., a financially stable, never-miss-a-payment kind of guy came to quote with Say, he was taken aback by his score.
Mark's Quote
Just last month (May 2017), Say expanded its auto coverage to drivers in Missouri. Mark had heard about the new company and wanted to see what sort of rates Say was offering. Knowing Say's rates were partly based on the insurance score, Mark decided to get a quote and opted to see his score. What he saw was surprising.
My score was okay, but I was expecting a pretty high score. Fortunately, Say also returns items that impact your score.
As he looked through the top factors, he realized something was off.
The things impacting my score included 'late payments'. I was certain that I had not had any late payments.
Mark's Investigation
To get to the bottom of the late payment issue, Mark decided to order a credit score report. Lo and behold, a mysterious credit card had appeared.
…I found a credit card had been opened in my name at a different address. This card was opened last August and someone ran up $19,700 on it.
Immediately, Mark reported the identity theft to the credit card company and three major credit bureaus. So far, the correction process seems to be going pretty smoothly.
I'm now getting some additional documentation for them but hope to have it resolved soon.
Mark's Advice
When we asked what he would say to anyone checking their insurance score:
Getting a quote with Say and seeing the insurance score is great way to see how you are doing.
When asked if he'd like to add anything:
Checking your credit score at least once a year is a good idea. You can get a free credit score, once a year, from the three credit bureaus. I'm just thankful that Say Insurance provided me with the information that alerted me to the fraud.