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04 March
You could be paying an extra $2,000 for home insurance every year because of this financial baggage. Here’s how to fix it.

Insurers use this little-known factor to decide how big your premiums will be

Illustration of a credit score meter with a house and car below, both with upward trending arrows.
Americans struggling with affordability may not be aware of this hidden factor affecting their home- and car-insurance premiums. Photo: MarketWatch photo illustration/iStockphoto

Your credit score follows you everywhere. Whether you’re applying for a loan, a credit card, an apartment or even a job, it’s often the first measure of your financial reliability.

And you may not realize that insurers are looking at your credit score, too — and that a low one could nearly double your home-insurance premium.