Historically every company has filed a “neutral credit score” with the insurance commissioner. The “neutral credit score” is the score at which there are neither discounts or surcharges on a policy based on credit. Historically, any client with a credit score lower than the “neutral credit score” would receive a surcharge on their policy that increases the lower their credit score. Alternatively, any client with a credit score above the “neutral credit score” would receive discounts on their policy that increase the higher their credit score.
With the new credit ban, the insurance commissioner directed all companies to rate all clients with their “neutral credit score” therefore eliminating any potential discounts and any potential surcharges due to credit. The ultimate impact of this change will vary for each individual based off their credit score and also vary by each company as different company’s will have a different “neutral credit score” used with their rating model.