This upsets me. Great American Life performed a hard inquiry on my credit file that cost me 6 points on my credit score... I have never seen an insurance company do a hard credit pull... especially Great American.. They don't even pay advanced commissions?? Anyone with experience with this, please let me know..
A company pulling your credit does not harm your score. Only excessive hits on your credit will harm your score. If that was true then shopping around for a mortgage or car loan would crush your score. Not the case. I sold cars and it was common to see 3 to 5 hits from different finance companies while people shopped. If you're shopping for a mortage through a company like Lending Tree many companies may pull your credit.
4. Too many inquiries hurt my score.
Once upon a time, this statement was true. But get with the times -- in this millennium, the credit agencies recognize a shopping mind-set when they see one. If a batch of mortgage or car loan inquiries arrives within 30 days, it doesn't count at all, Watts says. "Outside that 30-day period, if we locate a mortgage or car inquiry that occurred 180 days ago, and then see more mortgage- or auto-related hits in the accompanying 14-day window, we err on the consumer's side and still assume she's shopping for one item," he says. "We really feel like we are capturing the true consumer experience and not holding it against them for being an aggressive or smart rate shopper
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Last edited by healthagent : 04-25-2007 at 10:49 PM.
A company pulling your credit does not harm your score. Only excessive hits on your credit will harm your score. If that was true then shopping around for a mortgage or car loan would crush your score. Not the case. I sold cars and it was common to see 3 to 5 hits from different finance companies while people shopped. If you're shopping for a mortage through a company like Lending Tree many companies may pull your credit.
4. Too many inquiries hurt my score.
Once upon a time, this statement was true. But get with the times -- in this millennium, the credit agencies recognize a shopping mind-set when they see one. If a batch of mortgage or car loan inquiries arrives within 30 days, it doesn't count at all, Watts says. "Outside that 30-day period, if we locate a mortgage or car inquiry that occurred 180 days ago, and then see more mortgage- or auto-related hits in the accompanying 14-day window, we err on the consumer's side and still assume she's shopping for one item," he says. "We really feel like we are capturing the true consumer experience and not holding it against them for being an aggressive or smart rate shopper
That's true John, but my score dropped from this one inquiry. I use Equifax credit monitoring and my score changed on the same day the inquiry posted to my credit file. 1 inquiry can cause a score to move as much as 3-6 points and you are right about several inquiries during a period of time. They will not hit you for several point reductions.. it is looked at as one inquiry.
The thing that upsets me is employers, pulling your own credit, and pre-approval offers only do a soft hit on your report.. so it does not count as a hard inquiry. A hard inquiry occurs when you seek out credit and can actually cause the reduction in your credit score.
All the other companies I have gotten appointed with perfomed a soft inquiry... for some reason, Great American performed a hard inquiry.. their answer was they only want the best qualified agents and that requires looking at a full credit report.. wsh I had read through the contracting paperwork better, but I still think this should have been a soft pull...
Agreed. I've had to go through credit checks on many companies. I didn't have the word's most perfect credit about 7 years ago and Golden Rule almost didn't appoint me over it. I had to write a letter of explanation and show pitch to them that at the time I had been spotless for the past five years.
I think that a lot of companies do a "hard pull" for prospective captive agents. They are checking not only for bankruptcy but also for bad debt accounts and charge offs. How else could they get this information without a hard pull? Some companies have rules on what they will accept, like no more than 5k in bad debt/charge offs, etc. Usually they are more lenient on medical bills than other debt.
Whether or not it's true, I had someone email me month ago claiming he could not get appointments because he went BK two years ago.
He is probably telling the truth, especially if he's trying to go captive. But IIRC about every contract I've seen period asks whether you've ever filed for bankruptcy. I've also seen contracts (usually captive) where they will terminate you if you go BK while appointed and don't get their approval to file for BK first, and usually it includes a clause like "and such approval will not unreasonably be withheld."
He is probably telling the truth, especially if he's trying to go captive. But IIRC about every contract I've seen period asks whether you've ever filed for bankruptcy. I've also seen contracts (usually captive) where they will terminate you if you go BK while appointed and don't get their approval to file for BK first, and usually it includes a clause like "and such approval will not unreasonably be withheld."
Hmm... well my credit is pretty good even with a divorce about a year ago.. and they appointed me... I just didn't think it would matter. I started thinking about it though, if I were to sell a large annuity and then the person annuitized or dies during the first year, all or a portion of the commission is charged back. So I can understand why they would want someone with halfway decent credit. It is not a captive arrangement though.
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