Q: I have KY non owner SR22 and recently defaulted on a student loan. I renewed my insurance policy this month and the rates are suddenly much higher. Are these two things related? Is thise legal?

A: Since I can’t see your records with your KY non owner SR22 car insurance company, I can’t tell you for sure, but I would say that it is very likely that the two are related, and it is also very legal. Although car insurance companies won’t do this every time you renew your policy, many do check your credit when you get a new policy and do so again once every one to three years. Companies who do this, and most do, are following the lead of companies which sell other types of insurance by using credit reports to compile an insurance risk score.

For those who have bad credit and are excellent drivers, it may seem more than a little unfair for them to be charged so much on their KY non owner SR22 insurance for something they think is unrelated, but many 24 year old male drivers could say the same. What studies show, though, is that if you have bad credit, you will probably be filing a few car insurance claims. People with bad credit also have a history of, like you, defaulting on payments, and car insurance companies want customers they can be sure will pay them every month.