Can a Free Credit Report Provide You Tools to Help You Manage Your Credit Score?
Yes! A free credit report is a good first step towards understanding and protecting your credit
You probably see them all the time: Ads for free
credit reports. They promise to give you insight into your credit picture and help you correct a bad credit history. So what's the story?
Your free report contains a great deal of information on you and your credit accounts – institutions, account numbers, balances, and payment history. You can use this information to confirm that your file is accurate and to petition for changes if necessary.
Equally important, the free report doesn't offer recommendations for how to manage your
credit score or any analysis of how the financial actions you're contemplating – applying for that mortgage, for example – could affect your score.
So if you do see an offer for a free
credit report, keep in mind that it's a great way to find out what's in your credit file.
With a free report you get what you pay for. Now how do you get what you need – your complete
credit report?
IDENTITY GUARD® - the leader in credit management services - is committed to helping consumers understand and protect their credit ratings. Our EXTRA CAUTIONSM service monitors all three major credit reporting agencies - Equifax®, Experian®and TransUnionSM - to keep you apprised of your credit score and alert you promptly to potentially suspicious changes to your credit file - minimizing the risk of real damages occuring. It's a 3-3-3 credit profile - 3 credit reports, 3 credit scores, 3-bureau monitoring.
Plus, with EXTRA CAUTIONSM, you get daily surveillance of the Internet's "financial black markets", "back alley" chat rooms and news groups. Patented scanning technology helps ensure that your important financial information is not being compromised or "swapped" in sites frequented by identity thieves.
IDENTITY GUARD also offers Credit Analyzer, an interactive, online tool that helps predict how certain actions - for example, applying for a mortgage - might affect your score.
Want even more help? IDENTITY GUARD also has Credit Education Specialists to answer questions regarding your credit report and credit score.