Cybersecurity Checkup© for February
February is the perfect time to review your credit report. The holiday shopping and gift giving can last into the first week of January, which means returns for gifts bought on a credit card and returned for a refund, will not necessarily show up on your January credit card statement. Thus you should wait until February when most of the holidays transactions will be complete, to request for free, your credit report.
Yes, I wrote for free. I have often wondered why there are companies that advertise a 7 day free trial to your credit score, from three different agencies; when in 2003, President Bush signed The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which states that a consumer could request a free credit report annually, from Transunion, Experian, and Equifax, the top three nationwide consumer credit reporting agencies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_and_Accurate_Credit_Transactions_Act
What can your credit report tell you and why is it important to check?
First, your credit score is now attached to not only buying or renting a home, purchasing an automobile, mobile phone contracts, and insurance rates, but can also qualify or disqualify you for a job opportunity. Your credit score is intertwined with every aspect of your life. A higher credit score can provide you with better interest rates, and a better insurance score. Insurers use your credit score to determine premiums, the higher your credit score the lower your insurance rate. Having accurate information on your credit report can help you with big life choices and make your life easier.
Second, verifying your credit report can help you with identity theft or fraudulent behavior with your name. Identity theft can be a very painful road to travel, and can also be very expensive. Credit cards that appear on your credit report, which you did not apply for, can be the first sign that your identity has been stolen. Early detection of fraudulent transactions can minimize damage and many hours of work in restoring your digital life.
Third, understanding your spending limits on a credit card, how much you owe and the timeliness, in address the debt, can determine your credit score. Your credit score will be lowered if you use more than 80% of your available credit. Being able to easily access all of your credit information, on a credit report, can help you make choices which in turn can provide you with a better credit score. http://www.creditreport.org/good-credit-score
Fourth, be sure to check all three consumer agencies for your credit report. It is not unusual for the credit reports not to be accurate. If you find inaccuracies, be sure to quickly resolve the issue with the offending credit agency. It may take a few months for the issue to be resolved, but be diligent, because inaccurate reporting can be replicated to the other agencies.
AnnualCreditReport.com is the only place in which to request your free credit reports from all three national consumer credit reporting agencies. The link provided below:
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action You can also call 1-877-322-8228.
There are advantages to ordering all three credit reports at one time so that you can compare them for accuracy. However, it may be a good idea to order one credit report first from one agency, to verify the report. If there are questionable transactions or any inaccuracies, it would allow you to correct and then verify by ordering the remaining two credit reports.
Your credit report is a story about you. It is a story about where you have lived, and where you live now. It is a story about how you pay your bills, have you declared bankruptcy and if you have been sued. While the story may be incomplete, it definitely represents pieces of your life. Make sure this piece of your life accurately reflects who you are. Whether we want to be or not, we are Connected to the numbers on our credit report, let’s make sure they are accurate.
