Sunday, May 24, 2009

Credit Monitoring Services For Better Credit By Kevin Lynch

Credit monitoring is a service that you can get that will keep track of the three major credit-reporting agencies and if there are any changes in an individuals credit file, the service will notify them immediately. This monitoring allows the consumer to keep an eye on their report and rating without having to get the hard copy reports over and over again.

Monitoring services also keep the consumer up to date on new postings and any possible reporting errors. An important and valuable benefit to using a monitoring service is to help the consumer avoid becoming the victim of identity theft.

Credit monitoring can be highly effective in the early detection of identity theft or other fraudulent actions. The continuous monitoring of the information can provide significant early warnings to the consumer. Anyone who has a fear of becoming a target of identity theft for any reason should consider enrolling in a reputable monitoring program immediately so that they can get the warnings of any possible abuse.

The FTC estimates that nearly 10 million American's are the victims of identity theft each year and that number is only going up. They also estimate that on average it takes 12 months for the victim of this theft to notice the crime. A monitoring service can alert you sooner before the problems become overwhelming. A credit monitoring service cannot prevent the crime but it can definitely reduce its impact.

One concern that comes up for people when they are thinking about employing a monitoring service is the amount of inquiries that will show on their report if they are continuously monitoring their information. The fact is that only the inquiries from a lender or creditor affect your score and a consumer can check his or her score as often as they wish with no penalty.

Another concern is the cost of the service. There are many different companies out there that offer credit monitoring services and they all offer various services at various prices ranging from about $4.95 a month for minimal service to about $14.95 a month or more for the highest level of services. Most will include ID theft reimbursement coverage.

Deciding on which service to use may be the most difficult decision to make when it comes to monitoring services. The more frequently a service is willing to contact you the better it will be for you. Some services will offer additional benefits like credit scores, debt analysis and fraud alert to suit a number of needs and requirements for just about any consumer.

A credit monitoring service may be a worthwhile investment for you if you are concerned with knowing about your credit and credit scores or if you feel it may be possible that you could become the victim of identity theft.

Kevin Lynch writes on many subjects including credit repair. You can find more information about repairing your credit at his site CreditExert.com

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