An insurance score is a number insurers use to predict how likely you are to file a claim, built mostly from your credit report data. Most models run on a scale from roughly 200 to 997, and higher scores earn lower premiums. The gap is not small: drivers with poor insurance scores pay close to double what drivers with good scores pay for the same auto coverage.
How an Insurance Score Differs From a Credit Score
Insurance scores and credit scores draw from the same credit report, but they answer different questions. A credit score predicts whether you’ll fall behind on debt payments. An insurance score predicts your “loss relativity” — whether the cost of your future claims will run higher or lower than average relative to your premiums.1FICO. Credit Scores vs Insurance Scores The same credit report can produce very different numbers under each model.
The scales don’t match either. A FICO credit score runs from 300 to 850. The LexisNexis Attract insurance score, one of the most widely used models, runs from 200 to 997. TransUnion’s insurance score runs from roughly 150 to 950. A “700” means something different depending on which scale you’re reading.
Insurance scores also leave out some data that credit models may consider. They don’t factor in your income, address, gender, ethnicity, or nationality.1FICO. Credit Scores vs Insurance Scores Payment history carries more weight in insurance scoring than it does in most credit models, and the pursuit of new credit matters less.
What Goes Into the Score
Every insurer’s formula is slightly different, but the ingredients follow a consistent pattern. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners describes the typical weighting this way:2National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Consumer Insight – Credit-Based Insurance Scores Arent the Same as a Credit Score
- Payment history, roughly 40%. Late payments, defaults, and collections all pull your score down. Bankruptcies and foreclosures leave a mark that lasts years.
- Outstanding debt, roughly 30%. How much of your available credit you’re using. Balances close to your credit limits signal financial strain. Revolving credit card balances tend to matter more here than installment loans like mortgages.
- Length of credit history, roughly 15%. Older, well-maintained accounts help. Opening several new accounts in a short period shortens your average account age.
- New credit activity, roughly 10%. A flurry of applications suggests financial distress. Rate-shopping for a mortgage or auto loan is generally treated as a single inquiry.
- Credit mix, roughly 5%. A blend of account types suggests you can manage different kinds of debt.
Negative information generally stays on your credit report for seven years, so insurers can see older delinquencies for most of that window.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does Information Stay on My Credit Report Positive information can remain longer, so good habits compound.
Medical debt is worth flagging. The CFPB attempted to ban medical bills from credit reports, but a federal court vacated that rule in July 2025, finding it exceeded the agency’s authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Finalizes Rule to Remove Medical Bills from Credit Reports Medical collections can still appear on your report and influence your insurance score.
How the Score Affects Your Premium and Coverage
Insurers combine your score with other underwriting factors, like your driving record or a property’s claims history, to build an overall risk profile. A higher score signals financial stability, which insurers correlate with fewer claims. In practical terms, drivers with poor scores typically pay roughly double the premiums of drivers with good scores for the same auto coverage.
Most insurers use tiered pricing rather than a simple pass or fail. They slot applicants into rating bands based on score ranges, and even a small improvement that bumps you into the next band can lower your rate. The best tiers sometimes carry perks like accident forgiveness or claims-free discounts.
A low score can also shape the coverage itself, not just the price. Some insurers won’t write policies for applicants below a certain threshold, especially in homeowners coverage. If you’re turned down, you may need a carrier that specializes in higher-risk business, which typically means higher premiums and narrower benefits. Even when coverage is available, a weaker score can mean higher deductibles.
Because each insurer weights score factors differently, two companies can quote dramatically different rates on the same person. One might lean heavily on credit utilization while another leans on payment history. Shopping around matters more with insurance than with almost any other financial product, because the variation between quotes reflects genuine differences in how each carrier reads the same data.
When Insurers Recheck the Score
Some carriers pull a fresh insurance score at every renewal and adjust your tier accordingly. If your credit has improved since last year, your premium drops. Others check your score only when you first apply and never revisit it, so your rate stays anchored to whatever your credit looked like on day one.
The only reliable way to find out which approach your insurer uses is to ask. If your insurer doesn’t rescore at renewal and your credit has improved significantly, switching carriers may save you more than staying loyal.
Where Insurance Scores Don’t Apply
Several states have decided credit data shouldn’t drive what you pay for insurance. California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Michigan ban or significantly limit the use of credit-based insurance scores for setting rates.5National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Credit-Based Insurance Scores Oregon lets insurers consider credit for initial underwriting but not for cancellations or non-renewals, and Utah allows credit data only to offer discounts, not to charge more.
The details vary. California bars credit information from both auto and homeowners pricing entirely. Maryland allows auto insurers to consider credit for new policies but prohibits its use for renewals, cancellations, or homeowners coverage. Massachusetts bans credit-based scoring in both auto and homeowners. If you live in one of these states, your insurance score either doesn’t exist or carries far less weight than it would elsewhere.
In states that do allow scoring, most require insurers to file their scoring models with the state insurance department. Many also prohibit using the absence of a credit history to deny coverage or raise rates, so a thin file can’t automatically work against you.6National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Use of Credit Reports and Scoring in Underwriting Scoring models are also barred from incorporating factors like income, gender, religion, marital status, or ZIP code.
Extraordinary Life Circumstances
If your credit was damaged by something beyond your control, you may be able to ask your insurer for a scoring exception. A majority of states require insurers to offer relief when a consumer’s credit was hurt by what regulators call an “extraordinary life circumstance.” Qualifying events typically include catastrophic illness or injury, death of an immediate family member, identity theft, and temporary loss of employment.6National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Use of Credit Reports and Scoring in Underwriting Some states add divorce or involuntary military deployment.
To use this exception, contact your insurer, explain the circumstance, and provide documentation, such as a death certificate, a layoff notice, a police report for identity theft, or medical records. The insurer then recalculates your rate without the credit damage tied to that event.
How to See Your Score and Fix Errors
You can’t log into a website and pull up your insurance score the way you can with a credit score. But you have a few options.
The most direct route is asking your insurer. When you apply for a policy or receive a renewal, you can request the score the company used. If the insurer denied you coverage, charged a higher premium, or imposed less favorable terms based on your credit report, federal law already requires an adverse action notice that discloses your score, up to four reason codes explaining what hurt it most, the reporting agency that supplied the data, and your right to a free copy of that report if you request it within 60 days.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports The reason codes are the practical part; they tell you what’s dragging your score down.
You can also request a Consumer Disclosure Report from LexisNexis, the company behind the Attract scoring model. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you’re entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months from specialty consumer reporting agencies, and LexisNexis qualifies.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act Requests go through consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/request, and you’ll need your name, address, date of birth, and either your Social Security number or driver’s license number.9LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Order Your Report Online The report shows the personal data LexisNexis maintains on you, including claims history, which is what you need to spot errors.
Mistakes in the underlying data can quietly cost you hundreds a year in inflated premiums. The common ones are incorrect account balances, debts that aren’t yours, outdated negative marks that should have aged off, and mixed files where someone else’s accounts appear on your report. Start with your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, available free annually at annualcreditreport.com. If you spot an error, file a dispute with the bureau reporting it. The bureau must investigate, typically within 30 days, and correct or remove information it can’t verify.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports Once the credit report is corrected, the fix flows through to your insurance score the next time an insurer pulls it.
If the error sits in your LexisNexis file specifically, dispute it directly with LexisNexis. Reach the Consumer Center at 888-497-0011 (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern) or email Consumer.Documents@LexisNexis.com.10LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Description of Procedure If you believe your insurer applied its scoring model incorrectly, ask for an explanation and, if the response falls short, file a complaint with your state’s insurance department. State regulators can review how insurers apply their models and require recalculation and adjusted policy terms where they find errors.