Start The Year By Checking Your Credit Reports
Don’t forget to check on your free credit reports to start the year.
Here is some good guideline on whether one should sign up for the credit monitoring service.
It's not when you buy. It's when you sell!Do you need it? Probably not
The high cost is the main reason most people should pass on credit monitoring. The reality is that you probably don’t need it, and you almost certainly have better things to do with your money.The exceptions:
You’ve already been the victim of serious identity theft. By “serious,” I mean someone has opened or attempted to open accounts in your name. If someone simply swiped your credit card or credit-card number, your problems likely ended when you canceled that card and you probably aren’t at increased risk of further identity theft. If someone knows enough about you to get new accounts created, you may be in for months or years of trouble.
You’re at high risk to become a victim. If instead of swiping your card, a thief got your entire wallet — including your Social Security number — your potential exposure to ID theft just skyrocketed, since that number is the key to creating new accounts. (You may be vulnerable even if you know better than to carry your Social Security card; some health insurers, universities and even states use the numbers on the ID cards they issue, despite the enormous risk to consumers.) You’re also at higher risk if a company informs you that your private financial data has been stolen, or if your circle includes some unsavory characters such as a nephew who’s a drug addict or an ex bent on revenge. Read “8 signs you may know an identity thief” for more details on how to spot potential trouble.
Someone else is paying the bill. Several firms who lost critical data to potential identity thieves have tried to make amends by offering credit monitoring to affected consumers. If you’re offered this service, find out first if you’ll be waiving your right to file a lawsuit should you sign up. If you can benefit without losing your rights, consider doing so. If you’re not offered credit monitoring by a company that lost your data, ask for it anyway.
Unless you fall into one of these camps, you may be better off ordering your own reports once or twice a year. Federal law now requires that each credit bureau give everyone who asks one free credit report; you can give yourself pretty good free monitoring simply by staggering your orders throughout the year — order your Experian report each January, your Equifax report each May and your Trans Union report each September, for example. (To learn more about your annual-report rights, click here.)If you want more coverage, you could order (and pay for) additional sets of reports from each of the bureaus throughout the year (at $8 to $9 per report) and still spend less than you would for credit monitoring.
