When you apply for homeowners insurance or your policy comes up for renewal, your credit history may play a part in the price you’re offered. Many insurers use what’s called a credit-based insurance score. Florida law puts specific limits on how that score can be used, and it gives you rights if credit works against you.
Here’s how insurance scores work, what Florida law says and what you can do before your next renewal.
1. What an insurance score is (and isn’t)
An insurance score, or “credit-based insurance score,” is built from information in your credit report. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), these scores “are used to estimate how likely someone is to file an insurance claim, not how likely they are to repay a loan.” That’s the key difference from the credit score a lender sees. A lending score predicts loan repayment; an insurance score predicts the likelihood of a claim, and it may weigh credit factors differently.
There are several companies that build insurance scores. One widely used insurance scoring model looks at five general areas. As described in consumer guides from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the District of Columbia’s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB), the rough weights are:
- Payment history (about 40%): how well you’ve paid your debts in the past
- Outstanding debt (about 30%): how much you currently owe
- Length of credit history (about 15%): how long you’ve had credit
- Pursuit of new credit (about 10%): whether you’ve recently applied for new credit
- Credit mix (about 5%): the types of credit you have, such as credit cards, a mortgage or an auto loan
These weights are approximate and come from general consumer guides, not Florida law. Insurance scoring models vary, and other models can weigh these factors differently.
What’s left out. According to DISB, a credit-based insurance score can’t use information such as your race, color or national origin; religion; gender; marital status; age; income, occupation or employment history; or where you live. It also leaves out child or family support obligations, rental agreements, certain types of inquiries and whether you’re in credit counseling. One note: the score itself doesn’t use your address, but your premium still can, because a home’s location is a standard rating factor in property insurance, along with things like the amount of coverage, the home’s construction and fire protection in the area.
Does an insurer’s credit check hurt your credit? No. When an insurance company checks your credit report for a quote or a renewal, it’s treated as a “soft” inquiry. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) explains that a soft inquiry is recorded when your credit file is reviewed for reasons other than an application for credit, and it lists reviews of existing accounts by insurance companies as soft inquiries. CFPB says soft inquiries “will not affect your credit scores” and are shown only to you. Florida law also says insurers can’t count insurance-related inquiries, if they’re identified as such on your credit report, when they look at the number of inquiries.
2. How common insurance scores are, and how Florida differs
Insurance scores are widely used where state law allows them. The NAIC cites an industry estimate that about 85% of homeowners insurers use them in states where the practice is allowed. Even so, the NAIC notes that insurance scores are typically only one of many inputs insurers use, alongside factors such as claims history, property characteristics, location, coverage limits and deductibles.
It’s worth knowing that some Florida home insurers don’t use insurance scores at all. Practices vary by company, which is one reason the same home can get different quotes.
3. What Florida law says
Florida’s rules are in section 626.9741 of the Florida Statutes, which covers personal auto insurance and personal residential insurance, including homeowners, mobile home, renters, condo and similar policies. A Florida administrative rule, Rule 69O-125.004, adds requirements for how insurers handle credit reports on homeowners and auto applications. Here are the main protections.
You must be told. An insurer “must inform an applicant or insured, in the same medium as the application is taken, that a credit report or score is being requested for underwriting or rating purposes.” Under Rule 69O-125.004, insurers that use credit reports on applications must notify applicants before requesting a report.
Credit can’t be the only reason. Under the statute, “An insurer may not make an adverse decision solely because of information contained in a credit report or score without consideration of any other underwriting or rating factor.” An “adverse decision” includes refusing to issue or renew a policy, issuing it with exclusions or restrictions, raising the rate or premium, or placing you in a less favorable rating tier or affiliated company. The Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) puts it this way: “Insurers cannot nonrenew a homeowner’s policy solely based on information from a credit report, for having no credit history, or for having an adverse credit history due to medical bills.”
No credit history or thin credit gets special treatment. An insurer may not make an adverse decision, or use a credit score that could lead to one, based in whole or in part on “The absence of, or an insufficient, credit history.” In that case, the law gives the insurer three options: treat you as otherwise approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation if the insurer shows the lack of history is related to risk, treat you as if you had “neutral credit information, as defined by the insurer,” or leave credit out and use only other underwriting criteria.
Medical collections can’t be held against you. The same protection applies to “Collection accounts with a medical industry code, if so identified on the consumer’s credit report.” Where you live can’t be the basis for an adverse credit-based decision either.
If credit works against you, you get specific reasons. An insurer that makes an adverse decision based in whole or in part on a credit report must either give you a copy of the report without charging you for it or give you the name, address and phone number of the credit reporting agency so you can get it. The insurer must also explain its reasons in “sufficiently clear and specific language,” including “a description of the four primary reasons, or such fewer number as existed.” Vague phrases such as “poor credit history,” “poor credit rating” or “poor insurance score” don’t meet the requirement.
You can appeal after certain life events. If your credit report or score was “unduly influenced by a dissolution of marriage, the death of a spouse, or temporary loss of employment,” the insurer must, at your request, provide a way to appeal. Those are the three events the statute names. The insurer must finish its review within 10 business days after your request and its receipt of the reasonable documentation it asks for. If it agrees, it must treat you as having neutral credit information or exclude the credit information, whichever is more favorable to you.
Your credit must be re-reviewed. If credit history hurt you when the policy was first rated or at a later renewal, the insurer must review your credit history “at a minimum of once every 2 years or at the request of the insured, whichever is sooner,” and “adjust the premium of the insured to reflect any improvement in the credit history.” That review can’t be used to cancel or nonrenew your policy, or to require a change in how you pay. Some insurers follow a different schedule the law allows: if an insurer used credit only when the policy started and won’t use it again, it must reevaluate you within the first three years based on other rating factors, without your credit information. Whether a review changes your premium, and by how much, varies by insurer.
One more detail: the law says it isn’t a new adverse decision if, at renewal, you simply continue in a less favorable rate or tier because of your credit, except for the renewals or reunderwriting the law requires. That’s why asking for a re-review can matter.
4. Why two quotes for the same home can differ
Insurance companies don’t all rate the same way. DFS notes that underwriting guidelines vary between insurers. Some Florida home insurers use insurance scores and some don’t, and companies that do use them may use different scoring models and weigh the results differently alongside the home’s age, roof, construction, location, claims history and the coverage you choose.
That’s where an independent agency can help. Because McGriff-Williams Insurance is an independent agency that works with multiple insurance companies, a licensed member of our team may be able to compare options from the insurance companies we represent. Any difference in price, and whether there is one at all, depends on your home, your coverage and each company’s underwriting and rates.
5. A short checklist before your renewal
- Check your credit reports. You can get your reports from the three nationwide credit bureaus through AnnualCreditReport.com, the site named by DFS and DISB, without paying a fee. The CFPB notes that the nationwide credit reporting companies now let you check your reports every week if you ask. Checking your own report doesn’t affect your credit scores.
- Dispute errors. If something is wrong, contact the credit reporting company to have it corrected. Errors could affect your insurance score.
- Ask whether credit was used. If you’re not sure, ask your insurer or agent whether a credit-based insurance score was used to rate your policy.
- Read any notice carefully. If you got an adverse decision notice, it should list specific reasons and tell you how to get your credit report.
- Ask for a re-review. If your credit has improved and credit hurt your rating, you can ask your insurer to review it. Any premium change may vary by insurer.
- Ask about an appeal if it applies. If a divorce, a spouse’s death or a temporary job loss affected your credit, ask your insurer about its appeal process and what documentation it needs.
- Get help if you need it. The Florida Department of Financial Services Insurance Consumer Helpline is 1-877-MY-FL-CFO (1-877-693-5236), or (850) 413-3089 from outside Florida.
FAQ
Is an insurance score the same as my credit score?
No. Both use information from your credit report, but a lending credit score predicts whether you’ll repay a loan, while an insurance score predicts the likelihood of an insurance claim. The two can weigh credit factors differently.
Will getting a homeowners insurance quote lower my credit score?
No. An insurer’s check of your credit report for a quote or renewal is a soft inquiry, which CFPB says doesn’t affect your credit scores.
Can a Florida insurer refuse to renew my policy because of my credit?
Not because of credit alone. Florida law says an insurer may not make an adverse decision solely because of a credit report or score without considering other underwriting or rating factors, and it limits how an insurer can treat having no credit history, and it can’t hold medical collections against you.
Let’s review your coverage
McGriff-Williams Insurance is an independent agency in Gainesville since 1983. If you have questions about how your credit history may affect your home insurance, a licensed member of our team can review your current home and auto coverage with you. Call (352) 371-7977 or contact us.
This article is general information, not a statement of coverage or legal advice. Your policy’s terms, conditions and endorsements control. Coverage options vary by company and are subject to underwriting and availability. How credit information is used, and its effect on any premium, varies by insurer. Information is as of October 23, 2026.
Sources
- Florida Statutes s. 626.9741, “Use of credit reports and credit scores by insurers” (2026), accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/0626.9741 and http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0626/Sections/0626.9741.html
- Florida Administrative Code Rule 69O-125.004, “Credit Report Use and Disclosure in Consideration of Insurance Applications,” accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?id=69O-125.004 (rule text: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/florida/Fla-Admin-Code-Ann-R-69O-125-004)
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners, “Credit-Based Insurance Scores” (last updated March 19, 2026), accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://content.naic.org/insurance-topics/credit-based-insurance-scores
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Consumer Insight, “Credit-Based Insurance Scores Aren’t the Same as a Credit Score. Understand How Credit and Other Factors Determine Your Premiums” (July 22, 2020), accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://content.naic.org/article/consumer-insight-credit-based-insurance-scores-arent-same-credit-score-understand-how-credit-and-other-factors
- District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, “How an Insurance Company Can Use Your Credit Score to Determine Your Premium,” accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://disb.dc.gov/page/how-insurance-company-can-use-your-credit-score-determine-your-premium
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “What is a credit inquiry?” (last reviewed Sept 5, 2025), accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-credit-inquiry-en-1317/
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Understand your credit report” (Your Money, Your Goals handout), accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_understand_your_credit_report_handout.pdf
- Florida Department of Financial Services, “Homeowners Insurance Overview” (including the Florida Insurance Consumer Helpline listing), accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/consumers/understanding-insurance/homeownersinsuranceoverview
- Florida Department of Financial Services, Your Money Matters, “Credit History,” accessed Oct 23, 2026: https://www.myfloridacfo.com/ymm/CreditAndDebt/CreditHistory
