Report: Arizona homeowners pay more than average for insurance
Aug 25, 2015, 8:00 AM
PHOENIX — Arizona homeowners with median credit pay a significant amount more for homeowners’ insurance than those with excellent credit, according to a recent report from InsuranceQuotes.com.
When your credit score drops from “excellent” to “fair,” experts said Arizonans should expect a 54 percent increase in your home insurance rates, making the state one of the worst in the nation for these type of rate increases.
Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst for InsuranceQuotes.com, said homeowners with poor credit across the nation typically pay 100 percent more than those with good or excellent credit, but rates for Arizonans increase a lot more.
“We’re seeing that, if you have poor credit versus excellent credit, you’re going to pay 141 percent more for homeowners’ insurance,” she said. “If you have median or fair credit, you’re still going to pay over 54 percent more for your coverage. Consumers in Arizona have a lot to gain by keeping their credit in good shape.”
Compared to the rest of the nation, Adams said Arizona citizens pay, on average, a much higher rate than many other states.
“It is unfortunate that if you have poor, or even unfair or average credit, you’re going to pay a lot more for homeowners’ insurance,” she said. “We found that across the nation, consumers with poor credit are paying 100 percent more than those with good credit or excellent credit. Even having median credit is going to cost you 32 percent more, but it does really vary by state.”
Adams explained that the rates have to do with what is legally allowed in each state. Some ban the use of credit or the degree at which it is allowed to be used affects the rates in different states.
“This is going to be something that we just need to understand: Regulations are going to be different at the state level, so as you move to state-to-state throughout the country, the laws, the rules are going to vary dramatically,” she said.
While Arizona does have some pretty high home insurance rates for those with less-than-excellent credit, it does not have the highest in the nation. People with poor credit in West Virginia are going to pay 202 percent more for insurance than those with excellent credit.
KTAR’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.