Getting Home Insurance With Bad Credit

In most states, insurers use your credit-based insurance (CBI) score to determine your home insurance rates. If you have bad credit, you may pay more for coverage. For example, the average annual cost of home insurance is $3,503 for a policy with $250,000 in dwelling coverage, while someone with bad credit pays about $6,711 — or $3,208 more.

Insurers often see homeowners with poor credit as higher risk since credit history can hint at how likely someone is to file a claim. Instead of denying coverage, they tend to raise premiums to offset that risk.

When you apply for a home insurance policy, insurers conduct a “soft” credit check to get your credit report, which is used to create an individual credit-based insurance (CBI) score. While models used to calculate someone’s CBI vary by insurance company and are proprietary, some known factors affect it.

Credit-based insurance scores (CBI) and FICO scores both use credit information but serve different purposes. While FICO scores measure creditworthiness for lending decisions, CBI scores help insurers predict the likelihood of filing claims.

AIG Insurance offers the cheapest home insurance for people with bad credit, averaging $1,730 per year for a policy with $250,000 in dwelling coverage. Use the table below to compare rates from different providers. Filter by coverage to check the cheapest for other coverage limits.

You can get home insurance even with bad credit, but finding cheap homeowners insurance may take more effort. Compare quotes from multiple companies to identify the best rates. Use the calculator below to see estimates based on your profile.

You can get home insurance without a credit check, but it's only guaranteed in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan. Finding companies that skip credit checks in other states is difficult.

While getting a quote without a credit check is challenging, insurers rarely deny coverage because of poor credit. However, expect much higher rates if your credit score is low.

Your credit score is just one factor that determines insurance rates, along with claims history, home age, appliances and other criteria.

MoneyGeek explored how to find the cheapest homeowners insurance for people with low credit scores and how to get coverage without a credit check. While AIG Insurance offers the lowest average premium, the most affordable option for you may differ depending on your location and profile.

To help you find an affordable provider, MoneyGeek answered common questions about getting homeowners insurance with bad credit.

Why Trust MoneyGeek? 

MoneyGeek analyzed quotes from multiple insurance providers across the U.S. using a profile that reflects the average homeowner. By considering different locations and companies, we aim to give a reliable estimate of what homeowners can expect to pay, showing why comparing rates matters.

Methodology

MoneyGeek evaluated homeowners insurance carriers using insights and premiums from Quadrant Information Services' official databases.

Homeowner Profile

For our analysis, we created a sample homeowner profile with these characteristics:

• Credit score (769 to 792)
• Home built in 2000
• Wood-frame construction
• Composite shingle roof

Homeowners Insurance Coverage Details

Unless specified otherwise, we used these coverage limits to collect quotes:

• $250K in dwelling coverage
• $125K in personal property coverage
• $200K in personal liability coverage
• $1K deductible

We also gathered data for policies with broader coverage to find the best companies for insuring expensive homes, increasing limits to $1M in dwelling coverage, $500K in personal property coverage and $1M in liability coverage.