Life is never fair. When you bought that house years ago, it was in a good neighborhood. Now the ZIP code sends a different message and, no matter what you say about the quality of your driving, it cuts no ice. Your premium rate goes up just because of the ZIP code. It's exactly the same when it comes to your credit score. Look around. How surprising is it that people's scores are falling? There's a recession and, because you are using your cards less often and paying off the debts more quickly, your score is falling. Score falling? It's one of the basic unfairnesses of the way the score is calculated. One of the main factors is how much credit you carry. If you pay off one or more cards and stop using them, your score falls. It's actually better to keep some credit outstanding on all the cards (except those store cards charging you excessive interest). So why do insurers think there's a link between your credit score and their risk in insuring you as a driver? Well, the reality is people with poor credit scores spend less on the maintenance and repair of their vehicles. If you delay fitting new brake pads and cannot stop in time. . . No matter how responsible you may be in paying down your debts, insurers look at the bigger picture. Sadly, there are some dishonest folk who fake claims to help pay the bills.

To give yourself the chance of getting the best premium rates for you as a driver living in that ZIP address, you should check your credit records. As recent survey found that just short of 80% of adults had mistakes in their records. Of course, not all these mistakes are important. It may just be a wrong spelling or a date may be wrongly recorded. But if you are shown as delinquent when, in fact, you are completely up-to-date, this is a major blot on the landscape. Credit scores are used not only by insurance companies, but also by landlords in deciding whether to rent to you and potential employers deciding whether to hire you.

The law is on your side. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to get one free copy of your records from each of the three bureaus, i.e. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The Federal Trade Commission polices the system and, if you feel any one of the bureaus is wrongly refusing you a copy, you can file a complaint and it will take up your case. Use the information on this site: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm. Do not rely on any of the websites you might find using google. Almost all of them are deceptive. When you get your records, check through. You have the right to have any mistakes corrected. You can also find which companies have recently had this information and send them the corrections. For your car insurance, always notify the insurer if your score improves significantly. The standard practice is to give you an immediate discount. The best car insurance companies give you a rebate.