Credit watch service?

Question

I am thinking to sign up for a credit watch service. Any feedback on if it is worth it and which service is the best in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Credit monitoring services are a waste of money. You can monitor your credit report youself. Just spread out the free report from each of the credit bureaus.

Answer 2

I'm not convinced a credit service is worth the money. The only good thing about them is they should give you your credit score. If you decide to pay someone make sure they provide your score.

You can get your credit report FREE each year from each of the major credit bureaus, but it won't include your score. It will be a list of all your creditors, and should show whether you've been late with any payments, etc. The link below is to the government's site with info on this subject.

Answer 3

I have subscribed to Equifax for about 2 or 3 years. My main motivation in doing so is that I wanted to better understand which factors affected my credit score and if anyone pulled a report on me without my permission. I am notified when my credit score changes and that helps me understand those factors which affect my credit. It is a little pricey. I believe I pay about $80/year. I have found it difficult to get errors corrected with Experian and especially Trans Union so I don't want to give them my money to monitor my credit. I think Equifax is the most fair and accurate in their reporting.

Answer 4

I personally use identityguard.com. It's reasonably priced. They have a "credit simulator" where you can see how your score changes over time (if you open accounts, pay them off, miss payments, etc). I get emails every day when there's a new inquiry or new account that opens up. Plus they give you insurance if someone steals your info and tries to use it fraudulently.

I was shopping around for a new motorcycle and had OK credit at the time. I had trouble getting financed. A dealer finally got me approved but was trying to stick it to me with fees. They tried to sell me an overpriced bike and got me financed with some "mystery lender". Of course this tactic was supposed to make me give in since they knew I couldn't get financed elsewhere. I received an email notification of "two" new "unsecured credit" accounts opened in my name. Turns out the dealer got me approved with Honda and Bombardier. These are credit cards I could use at *any* dealer. So I just called up the companies and had them send the cards directly to me. I told the dealer to screw themselves and shopped freely at other dealers.