 TITLE: 9 Ways to Save Money on Homeowners Insurance CONTENT: 8\\. Improve Your Credit\n-----------------------\nIn most states, insurance companies can check your credit before issuing a homeowners insurance policy. They may use your credit-based insurance score, which is a special credit score used by insurance companies to assess your risk of filing a claim. If you have poor credit, you can probably still get homeowners insurance, but it might cost more than if you had good credit.\nAlthough your credit-based insurance score is different from the credit score lenders use, it's based on many of the same factors, such as your payment history, your overall credit utilization and whether you have any defaults or collections on your credit report. Credit-based insurance scores aren't available for consumers to view, but checking your credit score will give you a good idea of whether your credit-based insurance score needs improvement. If so, you may want to work on paying down debts, bringing accounts current, making all your payments on time and avoiding new credit applications. END