Please Advise I recently received a letter from Santander Insurance saying that they would be performing a search of publicly available records for credit purposes prior to renewing my policy,as statistically people with poor credit ratings,ccj's, bankruptcy or repossessions are more likely to make a claim and so help in calculating the renewal terms of the insurance offered They also informed me that if I did not wish for them to do the checks I should inform them no later than 40 days prior to the renewal date and they would cancel my policy. I am concerned that as I have a very poor credit rating and have had ccj's and a repossession order that they will try and extort a very high penalty to be able to renew the policy, I believe that the cost of the search will also be added to the premiums anyway. I have had a home insurance policy with the mortgage provider from N & P to Abbey and now Santander for almost 22 years without a claim but feel sure this will not be a factor in their calculations. I realise that I can always go to another insurer but Santander said that the searches were becoming an industry standard and would I hit the same problem elsewhere. Santander have said that if I agree to the searches then I do not have to do anything but would that mean that if choose not to accept the renewal and find a cheaper alternative that they would want charge an exit fee to cover the cost of the search as I did not inform them within the 40 days prior to renewal. Thank you for wading through this post.