There are a lot of new credit products on the market aimed at helping to keep you in the know when it comes to your credit. Knowing what’s on your credit report is an essential piece of managing your finances. Having continuous access to your credit reports and scores gives you the benefit of knowing how potential lenders see you as well as helping you prevent identify theft. Our personal information is scattered all over the place, and there is no way to completely protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft. The next best thing is finding out as soon as possible if something does happen. Credit monitoring helps you get there by allowing constant access to your credit report and the ability to set up alerts to let you know when things change.
Now you know how credit monitoring can help you but with all the choices out there, which is best? The first thing you want to do is find a solution that gives you access to all three of your credit reports. Lenders use reports from the three major credit reporting agencies - Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. When lenders check your credit, they may check any one of those reports, so just having access to one won’t give you the total picture of how lenders may view you. Also, each agency may have slightly different information (or misinformation) about you and it’s important to verify that you reports are factually correct.
The next most important thing you should look for in a credit monitoring solution is unlimited access to your credit reports. Make sure you read the features carefully, as some solutions give you continuous access but the credit reports only refresh once a month (or even once a quarter!). Continuous access to an old credit report isn’t exactly unlimited access. You also might want to have access to your credit score in addition to your report. Having your credit score is a nice way to see how your credit is improving (or declining) over time, and is always handy to have as a quick reference if you’re planning on making any big purchases or refinances. Not all credit monitoring packages offer this, but it’s definitely a feature that’s nice to have if you want to use it for purchasing knowledge as well as thwarting identity theft.
So what options are out there? Solutions like the one offered by TrueCredit (a part of TransUnion) offer unlimited to access to all three credit reports and scores, so you could check your credit report every day if you wanted. You also get alerts when any changes occur on any of your three credit reports. Also, this solutions offers $25,000 in identity theft insurance. For only $14.95 a month, it’s really one of the best deals out there no matter what your trying to accomplish with it. Equifax offers a similar product with a 3 in 1 credit report and unlimited access to your Equifax credit report. This includes $20,000 worth of identity theft insurance for $12.95 a month.
If you don’t want to go with a full blown credit monitoring solution, there are a number of ways to at least get a free credit report. For instance, all three credit agencies are required by law to provide one free credit report every year, and you can get yours at AnnualCreditReport. This is a great way to at least have an idea of what’s going on with your credit without having to pay. While it may be the cheaper option, I recommend at least getting your credit report and score twice a year to ensure that all the information is accurate and there is no fraudulent activity going on in your name.
