You may not realize it, but those two times you paid your credit card bill late may mean you’re paying more in auto or home insurance premiums today.

Insurance companies set premiums based on their perceived risk for covering you. To do this, they look at many factors — and your credit history can be one set of factors in insurance risk scoring. Insurance companies believe that people who pay their bills on time may be less likely to file a claim.

Therefore, the same behaviors that hurt your credit score (late payments, payments in collection, too many accounts, being close to your credit limits, etc.) can also lead to higher insurance premiums.

Of course, until recently, credit card companies have not made it easy for cardholders to stay on top of their bills.

That all changed on July 1. Credit card companies had to begin complying with new Federal Reserve rules that made payment obligations — and potential penalties — much more transparent in monthly statements. FiveCentNickel.com has come up with an infographic that shows exactly how the new Fed format for credit card statements can help you pay your consumer debts promptly and without inadvertently triggering fees and interest rate hikes that can land you in credit trouble.

Ultimately, greater clarity with credit card statements can lead to cleaner credit histories — and that could eventually pay off in the form of lower rates for auto insurance and home insurance payments.

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