In his 13 years as an insurance broker Bryan Yetman has regularly witnessed the havoc credit scores wreak on consumers. No case, however, unsettled the Past President of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) more than that of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer while in the midst of a divorce a few years ago. The client needed a double mastectomy, which required time off work. She missed some bill payments due to the upheaval and her credit score plummeted. Her home insurance provider responded by doubling her premiums.
Yetman thinks this is outrageous. “Because you were late on a bill payment or you lost your job, is your house more likely to burn down?”
Inflated insurance premiums are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ever-expanding use of credit scores for reasons for which they were never designed.
“We have a situation where the credit score is now being needed for everything,” says Toronto paralegal Dan Barnabic, who represents clients in credit disputes. In the past, your credit score was intended solely to determine whether you could qualify for loans or credit cards, and at what interest rates and what limits. But now they’re checked when you get a cellphone plan, rent an apartment or even apply for a job.