Best Credit Monitoring Companies

[Sundowner]

I'm looking to subscribe to a credit monitoring agency and was wondering if there are any happy customers out there in O'club land that can give any good recommendations.

Areas of interest...price per month, ability to check my credit on a whim without effecting my rating and of course identity theft protection.

Yes, I know google is my friend but I trust the community more than a zillion "buy me" ads.

Thanks in advance!

Sun

[Tarmac]

I use a company called Lifelock, but I can't say much about price.  It was provided for free for a year after my school district lost a computer with 10 years worth of student info on it, and now I renew for $20 a year.  

They basically keep my account in perpetual fraud watch (no new credit accounts can be opened without getting in touch with me through Lifelock), and send me my credit report a few times every year.  They opt out of credit applications for me automatically, so a big reduction in junk mail.

[Meatwad]

Heard about lifelock on paul harvey. Seem to work good?

[Maverick]

If lifelock is only $20.00 a year it sounds like it's a great deal. Do they monitor your credit or just monitor for new accounts open in your info?

[Tarmac]

I think it's a good deal more than that if you don't have a promo... ie a school district buying coverage for 10 years worth of students in a lump sum.  I think it's a lot more if you pay full retail price.  

They pretty much just monitor (and block) new accounts, as well as cutting pre-approved credit card junk mail offers to near zero.  

They don't actively monitor your FICO score, if that's what you're referring to.  I still would have to pay to get that.  They just automatically send me a free credit report every once in a while that summarizes all of my open credit accounts and my payment record for all of them.

[Marshal]

I believe the normal cost for Lifelock is around $100.00 a year.

[SaburoS]

Originally posted by Sundowner
...ability to check my credit on a whim without effecting my rating...
Sun

FYI.
Anytime you look into your own credit history, it is a 'soft' look and will not affect your rating.
'Hard' looks on the other hand might affect it. Hard looks are done by third parties such as banks, credit card companies, etc., all looking into your credit worthiness for a loan, etc.

[Sundowner]

Thanks for the info, guys!

Once again , I come away from the forums more informed than when I arrived.

Regards,
Sun

[Bodhi]

I use a product through True Credit, and once a quarter I go to http://www.myfairissac.com and pull complete copies of my credit report.

Yes, I was the victim of partial identity theft.  I was lucky, I caught it early, so other than several hundred hours of my own time and a lot of Certified Return Receipt charges for dispute letters, I came out lucky.

The credit monitoring agencies out there are really quite nice, but you have to remember that even though they seem to come from a "Credit Reporting Agency" they generally do not.  As such, their copies of your FICO score can be off.  Thats why I use the http://www.myfairissac.com system to get very accurate copies of my Credit and Score.  They are the ones that design and maintain the Credit Scoring System.

Kinda a *****, but in the end it is worth it to know some little **** isn't ruining my good credit.

[eagl]

I use a service partnered with one of my credit cards.  The rate was discounted by about 2 bucks a month because of that.  I'm paying $8.99 per month and I get routine monitoring of credit report changes, and a quarterly update of my credit score.  I can look at my credit report and score online.

I think it's worth it.  If nothing else, it's helped me track down and cancel unused credit cards.  Plus, it helped me figure out why AT&T wouldn't give me phone service...  It turned out that an old fraud alert on my account had an old contact phone number so they couldn't verify who I was.  I guess that's a good thing (not being able to open an account because of the fraud alert) but it was irritating at the time and it wasn't very effective since I was able to buy 2 houses in spite of the fraud alert and the inability of any banks or credit validation agencies to contact me using the information in the credit report.

To answer the question...  The "best" for me was one I could set up easily and get a discounted price due to the partnership with a credit card I already had.  So check to see what service your bank or credit card company is partnered with.

[ZetaNine]

Originally posted by Marshal
I believe the normal cost for Lifelock is around $100.00 a year.

$120....and it's identity/credit protection.  you can do what they do on your own.....they just do it for you...if you rather not be bothered by the process.

[Sundowner]

Thanks Bodhi, eagl and ZetaNine.

Regards,
Sun