The answer is very simple: because of the type of market(pool) they are looking to insure. For example companies like United Auto, Windhaven, and Ocean Harbor understand that the type of driver they are going offer competitive rates to are those that are considered "high risk" clients. If a person has a foreign license, a history of traffic violations(especially DUI), or are very young these companies will usually be hundreds of dollars cheaper per term. Now if a person is a homeowner, married, claim free (5 years), with excellent credit, companies like Progressive, State Farm, or Liberty Mutual will usually offer them the best rate. Sometimes people are under the assumption that a certain company is very expensive. That may not be necessarily true. That company may just not be the right for you. For example USAA is an association know for only insuring people and families who serve or served in the US military. They are remarkably competitive in this market compared to other insurance companies. Many people might not know this but GEICO stands for Government Employees Insurance Company who started by only insuring federal government employees and their families. It just so happens that the person that founded the company worked many years for USAA and assumed this group was less risky and more financially stable, as opposed to the general public. We can see from these examples that every insurance company is not trying to insure every driver. That is why some will ask for information that other insurance companies are not concerned about. To sum it up if an insurance company wants to know your credit score it is interested in the standard or "preferred" market. If not it insures drivers in the nonstandard, "high risk" market. You might be surprised how well this works for them. Very few people who hire lawyers and unnecessarily go to clinics are insured with standard companies. The numbers don't lie.
