Just froze credit at the big three yesterday. Quite easy to do!
I see no reason why I wouldn't freeze. We have no need for further credit, as we pay everything in cash, and just use cards for perks.
Is there any other reason why, as a retiree, freezing credit would prove to be a hassle?
My credit freeze has been in place for more than 7 years and DW's for 2. I had to unfreeze it on a couple of occasions but the process was simple. I did not experience any problems.
Just froze credit at the big three yesterday. Quite easy to do!
I see no reason why I wouldn't freeze. We have no need for further credit, as we pay everything in cash, and just use cards for perks.
Is there any other reason why, as a retiree, freezing credit would prove to be a hassle?
What good is freezing your credit? The code or pin number that unfreezes your credit is also stored on the credit bureau's database and that may get hacked too.
Rodi, do you remember which credit agency you had to unlock for T-Mobile? I'm thinking of changing to them and would like to be prepared.
It cost me $5 to unfreeze mine with the only bureau that my vehicle finance company uses. Cheap peace of mind.....Changing cell phone service? I'm about to.
Cost to freeze: up to $30, depending on what state you live in. Ditto to unfreeze.
Yes, if you have an ongoing relationship with a business, they still have access to your credit history. Freezing your credit doesn't change that. But it does protect you from someone using your identity to open accounts at other businesses.I haven't read all the posts so maybe somebody else is already stated this. When I froze Transunion and Equifax I had no ongoing relationship with anyone associated with them. But I get Experion through my USAA account. And when I froze them they said anyone that had an ongoing relationship with them through USAA they would have access to my credit. So I'm a little confused. But in that I don't need it I really don't care. It's not like I'm buying anything on credit in the near future and it's only $10 to unfreeze
DD's SSN was used to open a cc which ran up 5k (jerk never pd) then she moved back home (2009 - unrelated) so that shows up on my credit report as a bad debt because she lived at my house wbile resolving that she didnt owe. I've argue with it, put a discrepancy notice in each one of my free files, but still I can't get my credit rate over 780. It is a hassle and I wish that she had frozen hers but she didn't. It any rate that 10-year window is almost up so it should fall off
Being retired has its advantages. If I have time to argue with strangers on the Internet, I have time to deal with imprudent defrauded lenders.
This is not to say that I won't take advantage of Equifax's free year of identity protection and credit monitoring.
I think most, but perhaps not all States have passed the same protections regarding fees to freeze.
I think it is only 9 or so states that have passed the protections against fees, so most states still allow the credit mafia to extort you to protect you from them.
So, if I freeze my credit reports and I wish to obtain insurance quotes from three potential insurers, I would need to find out which agency each insurer uses, then unfreeze my reports from those agencies, then once I get the quotes, refreeze my reports - is this correct? And do I need to do that for both myself and DW? I'm counting $90 for this at $10 each?
This world has gotten messy!!
Thanks for this thread, DW and I both added credit freezes with the big three. And it's free in our state!
Here's something that might be of interest to CapitalOne cardholders. They have a deal with TransUnion that monitors my credit, and it's free. It's called CreditWise. Among other things, it tracks credit inquiries and new lines of credit opened in the last two years.
Did I mention it was free?
(Also, they notify me by email every time my credit card is used. Usually I can't even get out of the store before I've received notification.)