Here’s some bad news for Pennsylvania drivers with long commutes and bad credit scores: You’re probably paying more than you should for car insurance. Luckily, according to recent studies, the average monthly insurance rate in Pennsylvania is around $138. This is $1 less than the national average, so there are plenty of Pennsylvania drivers paying fair premiums. However, those who drive more than the average person also pay more for insurance coverage. Also, approximately 90% of insurance providers count bad credit as a risk factor. Therefore, if your credit score is low, your car insurance premium is probably high.
Why Pennsylvania Drivers Pay More for Car Insurance
Car insurance companies in most states consider heavy mileage a risk factor when determining rates. They justify this by pointing out that driving more increases your risk of being in an accident. Fortunately, Pennsylvania car insurance rates don’t jump much from one mileage category to another. Drivers pay 6.4% more annually if they go from driving 5,000 miles to 10,000 miles. After that, it doesn’t matter how much more they drive. In fact, they can go from 5,000 to 20,00 miles a year and still pay 6.4% more.
In California, on the other hand, drivers pay much heavier car insurance penalties for going the distance, so to speak. If they increase their annual driving from 5,000 to 10,000 miles, their premiums jump by 13.7%. If they hit 15,000 miles more, they pay 21.7% more, and driving 20,000 miles annually costs Golden State drivers a whopping 25.7% more.
Still, a 6.4% increase in your car insurance rate is money out of your pocket. Then, if Pennsylvania drivers have other factors going against them, everything adds up to paying too much for insurance coverage. Of course, if you have a long commute to and from your current job in Pennsylvania, switching jobs just to save 6.4% on your car insurance probably isn’t practical. Yet, if you are in the process of deciding on a job location, this information might influence your decision.
Why Pennsylvania Drivers with Bad Credit Scores Pay More for Car Insurance
According to statistics, drivers with “poor” credit scores are more likely to file car insurance claims than those with “good” credit scores. This is why insurance providers in all but three U.S. states assign higher premiums to their bad credit customers.
Just how much more they charge varies from state to state. For example, in Pennsylvania, drivers with low credit scores pay about $590 annually than their good credit counterparts. To put this in perspective, nationally gathered data reveals that drivers who cause accidents only pay about $446 more a year for car insurance than drivers with clean records.
Charging Pennsylvania consumers with bad credit scores more for car insurance seems unfair, but it is unlikely that the practice will change anytime soon. Therefore, the best way for Pennsylvania consumers with low credit scores to save money on auto insurance is to improve their credit scores.
There are several ways to get better credit. For example, you should get current with all of your bills and stop making late payments. Next, you should pay down your credit card balances until you’re using no More than 30% of your available credit. However, starting these credit repair measures, check your credit reports.
How Pennsylvania Consumers Can Improve their Credit Scores by Checking their Credit Reports
About 80% of Pennsylvania credit reports contain mistakes and errors. This is because creditors and the credit bureaus frequently misreport and mishandle consumer information. If this makes you angry, it should. Many of the credit report inaccuracies caused by these organizations are harmful to credit scores.
So, in order to make sure that your credit score isn’t brought down by errors, check your credit reports regular. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) entitles Pennsylvania consumers to free credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus every 12 months. Also, you can easily request credit reports from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.
If, while reviewing your credit reports, you discover inaccuracies of any kind, contact Credit Repair Lawyers of America in Pennsylvania. When you call or email our firm, an experienced credit attorney will handle your dispute process from start to finish, and it won’t cost you anything. You’ll get clean credit reports – for FREE.
The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit in Pennsylvania
Don’t let errors on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At Credit Repair Lawyers of America, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? The law allows us to collect our fees and costs from the defendants in any successful action. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.
Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (856) 912-3511 or sending him a message through our contact page.
For more information about Free Credit Repair, please visit https://creditrepairlawyersam.com/pennsylvania/credit-repair/.
