strange that this could show up on a credit report. i don't recall any point in the process where you're required to give them your SSN. it certainly never showed up on my credit reports.
Thank you for your quote request. Unfortunately, we are not yet licensed to offer insurance in your state. We are working towards offering insurance in all states, so please check back with us in the future.
.... ahhh, Massachusetts. Hey, anyone got some more restrictions they could put in place here? Yay government.
Just to be sure nobody gets the wrong information from a post a few up...
The only pulls on your credit that will hurt your score are those which could lead to a new credit obligation. Insurance does not fall under that catagory. Maintenance pulls (your existing creditors), self checking (everyone knows you're not pulling your credit to decide whether to give yourself a loan), employment screening, and phishing (you meet parameters so the creditor buys your contact information from the Repository) do NOT impact your score. Only pulls that could lead to a new consumer credit obligation are counted against your score.
Credit scores are not punative. They are meant to be a tool that measures the likelihood you will repay a loan if taken today. When there are fresh inquiries, there is a chance you have a debt obligation that has not yet been posted on your report and would not be accounted for within your score. The system takes this into account and "dings" the score for that chance. In addition, people are more likely to default when credit is new. Any changes in creditors or debt load makes non-payment more likely. Finally, people looking for credit are often starting to hit some credit problems. None of these issues exist when you're insurance shopping, so there is no hit on the score.
Anyone who wants this explained in detail should visit MyFico.com, which is Experian's web site. It has very good information directly from Fair Isaac, the company that developed the scoring model.
It will hit your credit as a credit inquiry. ...
Example: AMERIAUTO 01/15/2008 Equifax
Insurance pulls should come as soft pulls--you should see them when YOU pull your report, but they shouldn't be visible to third parties who pull your report.
Occasionally, insurance soft pulls post as hard pulls. In such cases, you should file a dispute with the credit reporting agency.
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I live in Texas, near the path of Hurricane Ike, and just received this response:
Quote:
Due to a potentially catastrophic event that has either occurred or is approaching your location, we are unable to quote or bind insurance coverage until the threat is no longer present. Please revisit our site in 48 hours. If you need further assistance, please contact us by Email at customersfirst@ampf.com or by calling (888) 269-1597 Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. or Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST.
I did discover that email address is mandatory, but phone number appears not to be.
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Did the quote, and was able to do it without putting in my phone number. Should make it a little harder for them to call me:
Quote:
By completing this request for quote, you are providing your consent for Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance to contact you, including by phone, to service your request.
