Posted by Glynn-TX on September 23, 2002 at 16:59:23:
Michaela,
You said you had authorised the initial inquiry, but not the subsequent one’s?
It is my understanding that if you were to file a dispute with Trans-Union and your insurer was not able to provide documentation showing you had authorised the review, it must be removed from your credit file.
You might ask at your local Retail merchants Association how you can rectify this.
Yes, it would be a pain to have to do this on a regular basis, but it may be a temporary solution until you can find a more permanent one.
Regards
Posted by michaela-ATL on September 23, 2002 at 15:35:37:
i’ve been using allstate for my insurances and noticed
a few weeks ago, that they had all these inquieries on my trans union credit report. i authorized the initial inquiery, when i started working with them, but not the additional ones. when questioned i was told, that they have to inquire everytime i get a new policy, but the agent assured me, that this would have no effect on my credit.
well, today i got another report and just to be sure, called trans union and they told me, that these inquiries do affect my credit, because they’re in the field, where it stays for 2 years and where the official inquiries are. meaning i lose points every time i get an additional insurance policy. he claims this is the only way it can be done and that every insurance company does this.
do you all have the same problem with your insurance companies? i’m going to have to change all my policies and go with someone else, but will i get into the same situation, that i’m leaving from now?
Posted by Jim FL on September 23, 2002 at 16:07:03:
Michaela,
I too have heard this from an Allstate agent, and some other larger companies.
Since I did not want my personal credit, or that of my company run with each new policy I applied for, I now have the policy issued to the land trust which holds each property.
I was lucky enough to find a decent independent insurance broker who now gets my needs taken care of, without ever running any credit.
I have policies with several different companies that this agent brokers for, and have not seen any real increase in rates, or had any problems with claims.
You might try that approach.
Place your properties into land trusts, and then get insurance with the trust as the insured.
By the way, when State Farm was still issueing policies here, (they pulled out of our state recently for home owners policies), as well as Allstate when I’d call them, even if we wanted to list the owner of the property as the trust, and the trust was the named insured, both companies wanted my personal credit to get policies.
I said no, and now go elsewhere.
Posted by JT-IN on September 23, 2002 at 16:05:40:
M:
Are your properties under a master commercial policy…? (This may require common titling, such as LLC or Corp). You may want to explore that type of set up, and that may eliminate the financial underwriting each time you apply for insurance.
What they are checking for is to see if you have suddenly gone into default on several accounts recently. Hence you may be seeking a chekcbook fire. Unfortunately, with individual policies, this cannot be avoided… expecially in todays insurance “hysterical” market.
The drawback to a comm’l policy is that the rates are often times more than individual policies. It is hard to have the lowest rate and the best conditions… you must choose which way works best for you.
Posted by michaela-ATL on September 23, 2002 at 16:40:20:
thank you for your answer. i don’t ahve a lot of rental properties, since i’ve always retailed my rehabs and lately i’ve wholesaled lots. right now it’s just 2 rentals, 1 personal residence and 1 car. i can’t really put all of those into trusts.
i’m just wondering, if they’re really requesting it correctly. there are 3 sections for inquiries. i’m thinking their inquiries should really go under the section that says ‘the companies below obtained information from your consumer report for the purpose of an account review or other business transaction with you. these inquiries are not displayed to anyone but you and will not affect any creditor’s decision or any scor’.
instead they show up under:‘the following companies have received your credit report. their inquiries remain on your credit report for two years.’
the agent says, he doesn’t know and there’s only one way for them to do it and this is it.
michaela