Get your credit report free of cost

For many years, it was difficult to get free annual credit reports. Times have changed in recent years and it is now possible to get free instant credit reports that are both reliable and factual. The Credit Reporting Act, also referred to as the FCRA has recently made a ruling that the three major providers of credit reports, Equifax, Trans Union and Experian must provide a free credit report once per year. However, don't just sit by your mailbox waiting for your credit report once a year. They are not required to send you your credit report unless you ask for it. You can do this in a number of ways. You can contact them by phone, fax or by electronic mail. Keep in mind that they are only required to submit only one free credit report per year, so if you would like to be constantly updated on your credit report every month, you will have to pay the small fee that they require for frequent credit reports. It has never been easier than it is now to get free access to credit reports which are an excellent thing since there are so many reasons for accessing your credit report.

Can I get my credit report from other companies?

Unfortunately, due to the large amount of scams related to credit reports, especially online, this is a tricky question. Since the three major credit report companies are now obliged to send you one free credit report per year, it is always encouraged to get your credit report from them. That way you will ensure that you are in fact receiving your credit report and you won't be at risk of any other parties becoming aware of your financial information. If you do not want to get your credit report from Equifax, Experian or Trans Union, there are a few legitimate companies that also offer the same service. The key is that you have to conduct proper research to make sure that you will not be a victim of any financial scam. A good way to do this is to talk to someone who has received their credit report from the company you are looking into. If they say that they did receive their accurate credit report and nothing bad happened to any of their financial information, they you can generally assume that you can trust this company. Another good rule of thumb is to never give private financial information to a source that you do not completely trust. If they are a legitimate credit report company, all they will need from you is your name, address and perhaps your place of employment. If they ask you for anything such as your credit card number, expiry date, bank account number, transit number or PIN number, then there is a pretty good chance that they are a fraudulent company and it is not worth to take the risk and provide them with that information.

What are the benefits of free annual credit reports?

Now that you know your rights and know where to get your free credit reports from, you may be asking yourself 'why do I need my credit report anyway?' There are a variety of reasons why it is important to get your credit report, at least once per year. If you have a copy of your credit report in front of you, you can go through all the details carefully to ensure that all of the information on the report is correct. You can do this by verifying the numbers on the credit report against those who keep it in your personal files. Another advantage is that you can find out how many people or companies applied to get a copy of your credit report. This will help you to find out who is requesting your financial information and if there was anyone whom you did not authorize to do so, you may investigate further. Completely free credit reports are play a very important role.

Now that I know how to get free of charge credit reports, what do I do if I find an error?

Now that you have all of your free annual credit reports, make sure that all the information is correct. If in fact you do find an error, it will be up to you to provide evidence that an error has taken place. You can use receipts, bank records or credit card statements to prove that there is an error. Once you send that information to the company, they will adjust your credit report accordingly. You may then request a more free instant credit reports that have the errors fixed on them.

Credit scores are an integral part for all your financial transactions. However you must be shrewd enough to obtain it only from the reputed and trustworthy companies and as well as make sure that you are not being cheated.

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