Credit Score Websites Advice

thewelshgit

Some 10 months ago I had to supply personal information to a Compliance Officer for the DWP, this included bank statements, pension details (Civil Service and NHS) etc etc. Probably enough info for someone to assume my identity!!! All sent recorded and tracked via Royal Mail to the address on the envelope provided by the DWP themselves. Today some 10 months later the said Compliance Officer telephoned to say they never received anything!!!
I've informed the Police of my concerns and they have suggested that "As you have proof of postage and proof the documents were signed for, they should start an internal investigation immediately to locate your items" and that I contact my bank and "Also there are several credit score websites which you can sign up to which enable you to monitor if an application is made for credit using your details and keep track of your credit score along with fraud prevention information."
So folks, how do I go about this credit score thing can anybody recommend one and also ones to avoid.
Please be aware that I am a pensioner who'll take a while to get my head around things like interweb thingy stuff.
Many thanks in anticipation.

D3xt3r5L4b

Sign up with CIFAS. That’s all you need to do 

Yahoo_Mail

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Sign up with CIFAS. That’s all you need to do 

Don't even bother with that.  Nobody has done a thing in the past 10 months and the information within it will be stale after 3 months anyway.

Everyone asks for "the last 3 months x, y, z." So the usefulness of this data ended 7 months ago.

OP, the post goes missing from time to time, don't worry about it.

DCFC79

The relevant credit report websites, clearscore is one but your score isn't seen by anyone except you, your history is whats seen.

Anamox

Yahoo_Mail said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Sign up with CIFAS. That’s all you need to do 

Don't even bother with that.  Nobody has done a thing in the past 10 months and the information within it will be stale after 3 months anyway.

Everyone asks for "the last 3 months x, y, z." So the usefulness of this data ended 7 months ago.

OP, the post goes missing from time to time, don't worry about it.

He's worried about ID theft... ID theft would work with details from 20 years ago if you had enough of it and if it happened to be still relevant.

Sign up to Equifax Credit Watch if you're concerned of credit being taken out by fraudsters, they have a service which doesn't give you monthly credit reports like their full service but you pay something like half the price to be alerted of changes to your credit report with text alerts if new credit has been applied for etc.

D3xt3r5L4b

Anamox said:

Yahoo_Mail said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Sign up with CIFAS. That’s all you need to do 

Don't even bother with that.  Nobody has done a thing in the past 10 months and the information within it will be stale after 3 months anyway.

Everyone asks for "the last 3 months x, y, z." So the usefulness of this data ended 7 months ago.

OP, the post goes missing from time to time, don't worry about it.

He's worried about ID theft... ID theft would work with details from 20 years ago if you had enough of it and if it happened to be still relevant.

Sign up to Equifax Credit Watch if you're concerned of credit being taken out by fraudsters, they have a service which doesn't give you monthly credit reports like their full service but you pay something like half the price to be alerted of changes to your credit report with text alerts if new credit has been applied for etc.

Not needed. ClearScore alerts you of any upcoming changes (searches etc.) and new account openings and closures before your next monthly report is due. And it’s free. 

PRAISETHESUN

No need to pay for anything. Just request copies of your statutory report every month from the 3 CRAs (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) and look for any changes that you do not recognise. A protective CIFAS registration may also help. 

I'd also be following up with royal mail/DWP to see what actually happened with your parcel.

thewelshgit

PRAISETHESUN said:

No need to pay for anything. Just request copies of your statutory report every month from the 3 CRAs (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) and look for any changes that you do not recognise. A protective CIFAS registration may also help. 

I'd also be following up with royal mail/DWP to see what actually happened with your parcel.

Thank you, in the process of doing just that as I need some of the info back. I'm not holding my breath though.

thewelshgit

Many thanks for the replies folks, very much appreciated.

jcontest

ClearScore (Equifax), Credit Karma (TransUnion) both seem to give live updates of upcoming changes - something that you don't get with your statutory report.  For what your asking about the statutory report should be fine. I sat my passport application the roof of my car once and then had to do something else, forgot to get it down before I drove off, never found it.

I bet the DWP has it, they are great at not finding things.  They tend to scan and upload things incorrectly quite often (from my experience).