Your credit score today affects many things besides loan approvals, including the success of your job approvals and insurance premiums. Because of such importance, it’s best to clearly understand everything on your credit report to safeguard your time and money. This is why you need credit monitoring services, be it basic or premium, to have a clear grasp of your credit score at the end of each year.
However, one challenge that stands in your way is knowing the ideal credit monitoring company to track your credit report to check for suspicious activities. To help you narrow down your choices and pick out a perfect choice, here’s a guide on the four things to look for in a credit monitoring company.
Table of Contents
1. Identity Theft Assistance And Insurance
There’s been a continued increase in the number of persons falling victim to identity theft. Besides your Social Security Number, these hackers can also access your registered bank account numbers and credit cards. Because of this, you need to choose a credit repair company that detects possible identity thefts in advance and prevents them from being acted on by hackers. This service is usually referred to as fraud resolution assistance or ID theft victim assistance.
Through ID theft assistance, it’s easy to quickly identify when there are unsanctioned changes to your bank account and help you realize or find out if any funds have been stolen. This is possible because you get professional help from an experienced personal case manager who’ll file all the required reports. Besides this, this expert will also complete all other tiresome paperwork to prevent any more losses in the future and ensure your life remains on track.
You also should choose a credit monitoring company that insures you from eligible expenses associated with restoring your identity when compromised and resolving identity theft. In addition, you’ll be provided with 24/7 support to ensure prompt response to any issue.
2. Reasonable Cost
There’s no doubt that nothing in this world is free, including credit monitoring services. But even if this is the case, you still don’t want to be exploited by being charged a hefty fee simply because you’re desperate. This is the case despite the cost of paying for credit monitoring companies being a drop in the ocean compared to what you’d have lost if your data fell into the wrong hands.
Because of this, it’s best first to do extensive research on the prices charged by different credit monitoring companies before picking your preferred pick. Instead of blindly choosing credit monitoring services for a specific company, this is advised without first doing your due diligence. Thanks to this, you’ll be able to know the price range you should expect to pay a credit monitoring company. Typically, the total cost of credit monitoring services for you and your family should lie between $8.99 to $34.95 each month.
3. Number of Credit Bureaus Monitored
Another thing you must look at before choosing a particular credit monitoring company is the number of credit bureaus they monitor. This is vital because you ideally want holistic protection when paying for credit monitoring services. Therefore, you should only consider credit monitoring companies that promise to monitor the three bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, in what’s referred to as triple-bureau protection.
A credit monitoring company that collects information from these different bureaus is better placed to monitor your personal information across numerous databases. They also are best suited to guide you make wise financial decisions. The data from the different credit bureaus include monthly credit score tracking and credit inquiry alerts. With all such helpful features, you’ll be able to quickly know when there’s any change in your credit report.
4. Instant ID Verification Alerts
Sometimes even the best credit monitoring company can’t prevent your sensitive data from being hacked. However, you want a company that informs you immediately when such a breach happens to avoid greater damage. This is why you should pick a credit monitoring company with a track record and experience to notify you whenever your credit accounts show suspicious activities instantly.
The different ways you can get instant alerts from the credit monitoring company include receiving a text message or getting a call from them. You also can be notified through a mobile app, a technique that these companies have also adopted to verify IDs and prevent possible fraud instantly. This saves you a significant amount of time should a hacker be the one behind the suspicious activities on your credit accounts.
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