What’s the cost/ risk of getting a credit report?
Dave G asked:
Our car insurance company says they noticed our premium will go up soon, and would like to do a credit report to look for reasons and try to help, which will only be a “soft hit” to our score.
Our car insurance company says they noticed our premium will go up soon, and would like to do a credit report to look for reasons and try to help, which will only be a “soft hit” to our score.
I think it’s a sales ploy to look at their bundled plans, and I also have always wondered about the cost, or “soft hit” as they say to my score.
I really would like to do a credit report one day, and check things like a possible late payment or a lender error that I may discover and fight. What’s your thoughts on all this? By the way, all these “free” credit report websites I’ve seen appear to be sneaky.. and at the very least, spam you to death w/ email. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated!
free credit check
August 24th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
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First, you should always be checking your own credit report atleast once a year. You have the legal right to access your credit report from all free agencies for free atleast once a year.
Yes, most of the free credit reports are a lil sneaky. You get the actual report for free, but if you want the score, you have to sign up for either contracted service or a trial that turns into contracted service of monitoring your credit.
Now, credit monitoring is kind of cool. Mine lets me know when ever certain changes occur to my credit, and I have caught someone else trying to get credit in my name that way. But they are not all good.
So, when you go to get your free credit report, just dont pay for any trials to get that score.
As far as the car loan… I would be leery about that. They have already seen your credit report, and to my understanding since you already have a loan with them they still have access.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:36 am
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There is no risk to your credit report as all insurance companies do a soft hit on yearly renewals. The CRA’s know this and treat it as a soft hit and this does not affect your score.
NOW< if you are going to switch to another insurance company and they want you to sighn or initial any form giving them permission to pull your report, then that would be a “hard hit” and cost you a few points.
Now to the free web sites for credit reports. There is one and only one site that the FTC recognizes and that is
they require no credit card numbers and do not send you spam. You may get spam from the CRA’s after you get your free report trying to sell you credit monitoring services, but you are entilitled to one free credit report per year from all three CRA’s through annualcreditreport.
Hope this answers your question
August 28th, 2008 at 1:35 am
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I would highly recommend getting a copy of the report yourself. Everyone is entitled to a free credit report once a year (by law). If you request your own credit report, there is no “hit” to your score at all.
Get the free report (I put the link below to the official site of the free report). This site is sponsored by the 3 main credit bureaus. Then you should look it over and make sure there are NO inaccuracies.
As far as the insurance company - shop around if they are going to raise your rate. And tell your agent that you are going to do that. That is ridiculous - your agent should know why your rate is going up. Is it definitely because of your credit rating? If so, they should tell you that. But that also means they have already seen your credit report, doesn’t it? Otherwise, how could your rate be affected by it?
August 30th, 2008 at 5:48 am
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Here’s an article you might find interesting about free credit reports and the “sneakiness” of it all.