How to Boost Your Credit Score

Your credit score significantly affects the cost of your insurance (for most US states). So our expert on property claims in Central Florida offers a look at a few ways to improve your credit score over time. Enhancing your credit score will help you guarantee a home or auto insurance policy and get admission to the best rates.

• Know your credit score.

Make sure you know your credit score and what factors are impacting that score so you can take measures to improve. You can easily access this data free from any of the three major credit bureaus.

• Pay your bills on time.

Your payment history is the most significant factor that impacts your credit score. One way to fight late payments (if you've failed to pay your bill on time) is to set up automatic payments from your bank account so you don't need to keep track of due dates yourself.

• Keep your credit utilization down.

Credit utilization is the percentage of available credit that you utilize each month. So if you have access to $30,000 of credit on three credit cards, for instance, and you've spent $15,000 between the three cards, your credit utilization is 50%.

It's usually suggested to keep your credit utilization rate beneath 30%. So, if you have access to $100,000 of credit, you shouldn't use more than $30,000 of it. Why is this? A low credit utilization rate shows that you're managing your finances responsibly and probably not spending above your means.

A few ways to reduce your credit utilization rate include:

• Making more infrequent purchases with credit cards. Consider making the switch if you can pay some of the bills directly through a bank account.
• Pay off balances in full. If you can't do it, pay off as much as you can to keep the balance as low as possible.
• Open a new credit card. Acquiring an approval for a new credit card means you have a new line of credit with its own credit limit. This counts toward your available credit and, therefore, can help reduce your credit utilization rate — if you're cautious. Opening a new account doesn't mean more spending power, and it's easy to overspend with that shiny new card. Opening a new account adds an additional hard inquiry to your credit report, which may reduce your credit score.
• Ask your credit card company for a limit increase. Some credit card companies bump your limit if you ask for an increase. This is particularly true if your financial situation has changed — for example, you got a new job that pays more and are qualified for a higher limit.
• Don't close your aging accounts.

You may be tempted to close an old credit card that you don't utilize, but that may be a mistake. First, the length of your credit history adds to your credit score — generally speaking, the longer you've kept credit available, the better. Plus, if you close an account, you lose access to the open credit on that card, and your credit utilization rate goes up.

These are some ways to improve your credit score. Contact us today if you need help with property claims in Central Florida. We are here to help!