Consumer Reports recently shared their study of two billion insurance price quotes from 700 insurers and stated that factors that are not about driving rise in significance when setting premium rates for auto insurance. Some of those factors are your credit history and whether you use bank credit cards or store cards. Only three states – California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts – don’t allow insurers to use those factors to judge a consumer. The difference in monthly payments can be costly! In New York, a driver with “good” credit will pay approximately $255 more a year than a driver with an “excellent” score. To be considered “low risk” for insurance companies, Margot Gilman, money editor at Consumer Report, suggests checking your credit report frequently and to fix errors quickly. Also, using national bank credit cards rather than store-specific cards is better because insurers rank bank cards higher.