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The generally low-rate outfits like Geico and Progressive run credit rating ... because a strong correlation exists between accidents and bad credit. They give their attractive quotes only to people with reasonably good credit.
If someone is careless with their money, I can understand why they'd be leery of how responsible he or she would be with a motorcycle. Even then, though, they do it in such an arbitrary and capricious manner!
Before I was a homeowner, Progressive used to quote me rates that basically said, "go away and don't bother us," and they made it clear that it was because I rented. Well, now that I
am a homeowner, the rates turned out not to be much better on the bikes, but the car was, so I switched it over to them. And guess what?
When I got my proof of insurance card, I also got a notice of adverse action based on a credit reporting agency. Although the rate was good, it wasn't their lowest. And would you like to know the specific reasons why?
* There had been a query to the reporting agency within the last 24 months. (Duh! How did they think I bought the house?)
* I had financed a car in the past 1-4 years. (Yeah...the one I'm insuring with you people! Just like it said on my insurance application What difference does it make whether it's financed or whether it was paid for in cash? The bills are paid on time every month, so what's the deal.)
And now the most bizarre of all...
* I still have a VISA account that I opened between the ages of 21 and 24.
Huh?!?!?!? Think about that last one for a minute.
I'm a freakin' deadbeat because my local bank thought enough of me (and my money) over the past 33 years not to sell my account to some megabank, and to give me an interest rate all this time that was more reasonable than the other offers I received? The account has had zero balance many times over the decades, too, so I suppose that makes me too flighty to be a good insurance risk? C'mon now.
I guess the moral is, if you want to get Progressive's lowest rates, you have to:
- inherit your home, not buy it;
- pay cash for all your vehicles;
- and plan ahead to dump all your revolving credit accounts at age 25, get brand new ones if you need to have any consumer credit, then wait 7 more years for your old credit record to expire before applying with Progressive. Otherwise, however responsible you may be and however good your payment record, you still won't get their LOWEST rate.
Or the
real moral: it's all arbitrary and capricious to begin with, so as I said before, one person's insurance experience means nothing to anyone else's situation.
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