An insurance shoppers credit rating can make a significant difference in their insurance premium rate. I often ask myself, should this really matter? Goodness, how many families have went into foreclosure due to our struggling economy? I’m not a credit expert but it’s pretty obvious having a foreclosure on record will lower one’s credit rating. Should all these struggling families have to deal with rising insurance rates also? The only risk bad credit should account for is the probability of the insured staying current on premium payment. If the insured pays their 6 month policy up front, I feel credit rating should have no bearing on how much the premium rate will come out to. Using credit in this way seems rude. I mean, honestly what are they telling us? “I’m sorry you lost you home or you struggle daily to feed your family. By the way, we have to charge you more for insurance since you have financial troubles.”  You want to know how credit became a part of the whole rating system? Some “so-called expert” came up with the idea that maybe the people who don’t pay their bills and have bad credit pose a higher risk.  Did this person ever consider the struggling single mother or the hard working parent or parents who face today’s many layoffs. How about the driver with a high credit score who can afford a lawyer for every single ticket they receive.  The majority of people with bad credit are in their early adult years.  So the experienced driver, the single parent and the hard working parent who has been laid off are, in my opinion, has been rated unfairly.  With this in mind I think its important, especially now with how the economy is, that Providers should choose not to use credit scores when determining one’s insurance rate.