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  • Why Medical Insurance Hurts Your Credit Score

    March 12th, 2010 by Ruth Racey

    The basic reason why you would want to have insurance is because of the fact that you would like to have protection and security. This is especially important with regards to getting medical insurance. Remember that there are always chances that you may be a victim of illnesses or accidents, in which you may not have control whatsoever. You may know that definitely, you will encounter illnesses or accidents, but will never know when or how until it is done. Therefore, getting medical insurance actually helps. Well, not always. Sad to say, having medical insurance may actually harm your credit score. Try to take a look at the reasons why.  

    • There are instances wherein your insurer fails to pay for all of your claims
      Remember that there are certain specific policies that insurance companies have whenever they are going to pay for the bills that you have incurred while in the hospital. In this case, the sad fact is, there are specific instances wherein your insurance coverage actually fails to cover your situation. In this case, you may think that your insurance company are already paying your bills, while in fact they are not. This will surely rack up debts in your credit card account, ruining your credit score.
      Adding to this situation, surely whole you are sick, it is very difficult to go through all of your medical bills. Especially when you have sustained a major damage, you will rather focus on getting well than caring for all the medical bills that you have incurred. In this case, you will very likely choose to set it aside and let your medical insurance company handle it. The sad fact is, whenever your insurance company fails to handle it, you would only face accumulated bills and a low credit score. 
    • Incorrect data entry
      In addition, there are certain insurance policies that require a specific kind of accident or any other medical condition that must be experienced before insurance holders are able to claim. 

    In this case, whenever thee medical staff have input wrong data, and will not fit into the requirements of the insurance company, surely, they will likewise fail to answer for paying your bills. This situation will only lead you to have racked up bills, which will in turn surely drag down your credit score. In this case, when you want to have your credit score not hurt by your medical insurance, always choose the right medical insurance company.

  • The Relevance of Your Credit Report When Renting a House

    March 8th, 2010 by Ruth Racey

    Not having your own house does not mean that you do not need to have a place to stay and go home to everyday. In this case, surely, it is necessary for you to have a place to go. In this case, the most viable option that you have is renting a house. It is a good thing that there are millions of landowners in this country who does a living by offering rentals to needy consumers. In this case, it is then important for you to take note of the fact that your credit report is indeed important when thinking of renting a house. Want to know why? 

    Remember that landowners are not just willing to have their place rented to any person that they encounter first. Of course, landowners would want to have some sort of security before they can decide to have their place rented. This is the security that is associated with you being able to pay for the rent. This is where your credit report comes into importance. And the fact is, one of the most viable and useful indicators that landowners use whenever they are going to see if you are actually able to pay for your rent is your credit report. 

    In this case, landowners are actually looking at the history of you paying your past rents. Given the fact that most American consumers right now are preferring to use credit cards instead of cash, more likely than not, there are more chances that you may have used your credit card in  paying the rent of your house in the past. Therefore, your credit report is actually important. 

    Take note that your credit report actually registers all of the transactions that you have made using your credit cards in the past years. This includes all the house rentals that you have paid in your past landlords. In this case, through your report, as well as your credit score, landlords are able to see whether you have paid your past house rentals on time, on whether you have paid them completely, or when you are actually delinquent in paying your rent. 

    In this case, surely, having a bad report would make them think twice before renting their place to you. Therefore, always be sure to look at your report before finding a house to rent. More importantly, it also helps to have a good report to show to landlords.

  • The Different People Who Look at Your Credit Score

    March 3rd, 2010 by Ruth Racey

    Not so many consumers are aware that different people are actually looking at their respective credit score. The fact is that there are strangers who do so, because of the fact that it is part of their business to look at it. In this case, remember that all they need is for them to know your social security number, and they can now access your credit score. Here then are the different people who look at your credit, as well as the reasons why are they doing this in the first place: 

    • Your credit card issuers
      These are the people who issue the millions of credit cards that are used by American consumers in the whole country. In this case, of course, they would like to know your credit score before they can be able to decide on whether they will give you a credit card or not.
      In this case, do not forget that your score is an indicator of how creditworthy you are, which simply means your ability to pay for your bills properly or not. In addition, issuers would also need your score whenever they will change the interest rates of your credit card account. A higher credit score would mean lower interest rates to be paid, while a lower score would mean higher interest rates to be paid.
    • Insurance companies
      Because of the fact that your credit score is a leading indicator of your ability to pay for your dues and your bills properly, it is also important for insurance companies. Remember that in insurance, you are going to pay for dues and bills all the same, in which they need to gauge your credit worthiness. Also, having a higher score would make insurance companies offer you lower interest rates, while a low score would make them offer you higher interest rates. 
    • Telecommunication companies
      Also, remember that to companies that offers you cable, satellite and telephone services, your score also matters to them, for it says a thing about how you can be bale to pay your bills. 
    • Future employers
      Nowadays, there are a lot of employers who considers the credit ratings of applicants before they would decide to hire them or not. In this case, your score then matters a lot, especially when applying for a job.
    • Future landlords
      Even for landlords who are going to lend you a house, they still use you credit score to gauge whether you can pay the rent or not.
  • The Problem with Cash Back Credit Cards

    February 27th, 2010 by Ruth Racey

    Credit cards are one of the most popular mediums of purchasing all the products that you will need. This is because of the fact that using credit cards has proven to be far more convenient than using cash. First, you do not have to bring all those cash whenever you are making your purchases. Also, you can actually purchase beyond what finances you actually have. In addition, there are also many discounts that you can avail whenever you use your personal credit card. 

    One of such discount promos that credit card companies offers are cash back credit cards. In this case, you are actually getting credit cards that offer you discounts on cash backs, even getting discounts up to 4%. However, for you to get such discounts, you must be able to extensively use your credit cards in the first months. This is the reason why cash back credit cards may be even prove to be harmful rather than helpful, at least considering your financial account and your credit score. 

    Remember that even though it is true that you may be having discounts in these cash back deals; the point is that you still need to pay for all of your bills using these credit cards. Also, you have to pay it with interest. In this case, whenever you extensively use your credit cards in most of your transactions, surely, you will witness your credit score to drop at a very unfavourable point. 

    There are many determinants which may determine your credit score. Having large bills to pay for instance, or having a large balance, or paying your bills late, and even spending beyond your credit limit, all contributes to you having a low credit score. In this case, extensively using your credit cards in able for you to avail of the cash back discounts makes you have a huge balance, or worse, spending over the limit. In this case, surely, you will have your credit score hurt. 

    Therefore, every time you are getting credit cards with cash back discounts, do not just be so comfortable in having a spending spree. This may actually result into having a bad credit score, making your discount without any sense at all. 

    Remember that having a low score will surely hurt your finances. One thing is that you may actually be forced to pay for loans at a much higher interest rate. Also, low scores may actually make you have disapproved loans, because creditors and lenders would be very unwilling to lend to consumers who are not creditworthy.

  • The Main Determinants of Your Credit Score

    February 23rd, 2010 by Ruth Racey

    There are a lot of people who wants to get a better credit score. In this case, remember that high credit scores actually brings in a lot of benefits to one’s financial account, while  low credit scores surely brings in disaster to any credit card account. This are the reasons why knowing how a credit score is determines is necessary, especially for people who wants to have a better credit score.  

    Whenever you have a high score, usually, you are able to get the loan that you need. This is because of the fact that lenders will actually be very willing to lend money, due to the reason that they see that you are able to pay them in the future. Meanwhile, when you have low scores, usually, lenders will think twice in lending you money, having your loan application disapproved. In addition, having a high credit score would make you pay low interest rates, while having a low credit score would make you pay for high interest rates.  Here then are some of the main determinants of your credit score that may help you have higher and better ones: 

    • Payment history
      Your payment history is all about the records on how you have paid your debt in the past. In this case, remember that your score is actually a measure of your credit worthiness, which is basically the indicator of your ability to pay for your debt. In this case, when you have bad payment records, in which you have a history of regularly paying late among other things, you will surely have a bad score. 
    • Recent delinquent payments
      In this case, even though you may have a good payment history, whenever you have recent records of delinquent payments, especially when it is already 30 days late, expect yourself to have bad scores. Remember that having a good score involves regularly paying your debt on time. 
    • The amount that you actually owe in your credit card
      Thus amount is called your credit to debt ratio. It is the ratio between your outstanding balance and your credit limit. In this case, having a low credit to debt ratio means high scores, while having a high credit to debt ratio means low scores. Therefore, always check the amount of debt that you have incurred. 
    • Credit history
      The length of your credit history also has a say; the longer the credit history, the higher the credit score.