Believe it or not, your credit affects a lot of different areas of your life. It obviously affects what kind of interest rate you will pay on a loan or if you can get credit at all. It may affect your ability to get a job and even how much you pay for insurance!

Years ago, insurance actuaries came across some startling figures; people with bad credit are more likely to have insurance claims and people with good credit were less likely to have claims. Pretty basic stuff...if you have decent credit you will be paying less for your property and casualty insurance (auto, home, specialty insurance, etc) and sometimes life and health insurance.

There are various factors that play into how an insurance company rates a driver or home owner. The type of car, driving record, address and age of drivers are all factors in deciding an auto insurance rate. The quality of a consumers credit standing is also a very accurate indicator when rating a prospective insured. These days saving money is as important as ever and getting your credit as strong and healthy as possible will help in all the different areas that credit is considered, like insurance.

There are some basic steps to getting a handle on your credit rating and making it as solid as possible. The sooner you start the better off you are, because with a lot of things in life, it takes a while to see changes.

First thing you should do is get a copy of all three of your credit bureaus, Experian, Transunion and Equifax. It's very easy to get a free copy by writing and requesting one from each credit bureau, you can find these addresses by doing a web search. I recommend using a service that, for a monthly fee, will give you unlimited access to all three bureaus. They will also have a wealth of information on how to dispute bad references, upgrade your credit scores, will notify you about any changes to your credit who is looking at your credit and loads of other information that consumers should know. Then you can see changes, positive or negative, immediately and act accordingly. The more you know about credit in general and about your own credit file, the better off you are.

When you first look at your credit profiles, make sure the addresses and basic personal information are correct. Start making a check list of things that are inaccurate and need to be updated. Next, go over each credit reference and make sure they are being listed and reported properly. The quickest way to improve your credit is to have incorrect information reported correctly. Things to look for are; late payments, accounts that aren't yours, wrong credit limits and balances, closed accounts that are reported open, accounts that are open that aren't being reported at all, older bad references that shouldn't be reported any longer and paid debts that are reported as unpaid. All these things can be updated quickly and can make a positive difference to your credit report.

It takes credit bureaus time to investigate disputes and the more information you can give them the faster it will go. Contacting the creditor directly will also save time; they want to report accurate information for their customers and will update anything they have wrong. Sometimes, even when the bad information is correct, you can contact the creditor and ask them to update the information more favorably. Creditors may simply want to keep you and people you know as customers and will make positive changes when they can, it never hurts to contact them and ask.

Keeping your credit balances well under their limits will also keep your rating strong, it is understood that balances below 35% of their credit limit are best. Don't apply for credit often, multiple credit inquiries can count against you. If you have unpaid or charged off credit accounts, make sure you pay these off, this will count against you more than late payments, being over your credit limit and multiple inquiries.

Credit can be used when underwriting all types of insurance (life, health, auto, home, etc), but not all companies rely on credit Companies that don't rely on credit when underwriting are assuming the credit is bad and charge a higher premium to begin with.

If you are looking to save money and get the lowest rates, stay on top of your credit Keep it accurate and strong and this will save you money and help you avoid credit surprises.

Good Luck!