Colorado DOI Website Has Consumer Tips

The Colorado DOI has a website for their Department of Regulatory Agencies and on this site is a section dedicated to offering tips to consumers. The most recent tip segment is about keeping debt levels down and paying off holiday spending. What a great time of year to offer this type of advice as many consumers have spent more than they can afford.

Some of the highlights to the segment include paying off the highest interest rate credit card first to minimize the amount of finance charges you pay. They recommend cutting up all cards you do not regularly use and make it a priority to pay new balances in full each month. They suggest contacting creditors to negotiate lower interest rates which can often prove very worth while and will save you hundreds in interest fees if they agree. If possible, move balances from higher interest rate cards to lower interest rates cards and take advantage of low promotional rates when available.

The most important advice, which is also the most challenging for the average American, is to live within your means. If you cannot afford a particular item, save money until you can afford it and pay for it with cash. This is a habit that will prove to save you a lot of money in the long run. Good luck!

The Hidden Cost of Bad Credit

It's bad enough that a few credit missteps can force you into higher-interest credit cards and loans. But did you know those dings can raise your auto insurance rates too?

Your FICO score --can have an impact far beyond the account where the trouble started. Even if you don't have any dings, your score might be low enough to affect your auto insurance rates. If you don't use your credit cards, after all, the credit industry won't have a history of good credit to evaluate. You'll end up with a less-than-ideal rating. Insurance companies will see you as a less-than-ideal risk, and price your policies accordingly.

A report issued last week by the Federal Trade Commission describes insurance companies such as MetLife and Allstate looking into using credit history to assess risk as far back as the early 1980s.

The report notes that every single one of the top 15 auto insurance companies uses these scores. Case studies in the report note the particular success of Progressive in using these scores to improve its business.