All Life Insurance Tips

Is it fair to judge people by their credit?

My brother is in the financial field and he's always going on and on about how someone's credit score is a good indicator of their personality in general. He insists that people who have bad credit are more likely to be irresponsible in other aspects of life. He says that people with bad credit are more likely to be unfaithful, shouldn't be trusted to own a gun or babysit children because they are more likely to be irresponsible. He tells me that this is the reason that people with bad credit pay higher insurance rates because they are just not responsible. So, I guess after years of hearing this from him it has sort of brain washed me. I find myself really looking down on people with bad credit. The other day I was renting a car and the poor woman in front of my had two credit cards declined so she had to go home and get proof of address and pay with a money order. Boy did I bad mouth her when I got into the car with my wife and kids. Then I was at the mall and a guy in front of me had his credit card declined. Although I would never say anything outloud in my mind I was thinking "what a low class MF, he can't even pay his bills on time". And now, more than ever, that the economy has gotten bad I have really begun to despise people who have bad credit. I feel like they messed up the economy by buying too much and putting too much on credit and then getting off scott free. I am sure many of them are good people. But even in commercials for the Triple Score monitoring they claim that the guy in the commercial should have had his fiances credit checked before he married her because they wound up living in her parents' basement. So is credit a true indicator of the person as a whole?

Public Comments

1. I think it does matter to some point. I would more like trust a person with good credit than with bad credit. I admit that I am a snob in some ways. I work at a store and when someone pays with credit card from a cheap bank like Orchard Bank or Premier Bank I do look down on them cause I figure they don't have money since they're using a substandard bank. If someone pays with a Platinum Chase or Citibank Visa card of if they use American Express I am usually nicer to them cause I figure they have money and they'll buy more.
2. I think your brother is full of crap, and is very judgmental. Yes, I can understand judging a person by their credit if they'ree applying for a loan, or are applying for a job with a bank or other financial related job. But to judge someones personality, and weather they can be trusted with children is ridiculous. People can have bad credit for a number of reasons, and very rarely does it really reflect what kind f person they are. With that mindset, I'm pretty sure he may feel a person who once got a DUI doesn't deserve or should be trusted to work at McDonald's or something. My point is, it's extremely judgmental, and irrelevant a persons personal character. Think about this, would you look down on someone who was a victim of I.D. theft? I.D. theft is Americas fastest growing crime, and a person who is victim of such a crime often spends years cleaning up their credit. You also have to think about other circumstances such as divorce, Loss of employment due to down sizing and layoffs, and etc. Credit scores and history should only reflect a persons financial background, NOT there overrall life.
3. It is almost always a true indicator BUT there could be a few slip by. Such as medical bills or deaths in the family--but also those people are not out shopping much. But basically, yes. Just my opinion.
4. It depends who you ask. Someone with good credit will probably say yes. Someone with bad credit will probably say no. Personally, of course it matters. Why do you think employers check credit? Even court prosecutors check credit. It's a good indicator of how the person lives their lives.