Check my file - take care when you use it or you may sign up for a subscription.

toby_hayes

A couple of weeks ago I used Check My File on a free 7 day offer to check my credit file. I used it because it checks Trans Union, Equifax @ Experion all together. All the details were correct and I forgot about it until this week. I check my banking app regularly and was surprised to find a £14.99 charge from Check My File. I contacted my bank and they told me I had signed up to a £14.99 per month subscription. I used the free offer just once but because I did not cancel it, I was on  an ongoing subscription by default. I contacted Check My File and they explained that I had used the free offer and did not cancel so the subscription commenced. I told them that I only wanted the one free check and did not want a subscription. They agreed to refund the first payment and cancel the subscriptions. I'm usually on the ball with my finances but this time it seems I inadvertently signed up to a subscription. Be careful out there and don't do as I did.

eskbanker

toby_hayes said:

A couple of weeks ago I used Check My File on a free 7 day offer to check my credit file. I used it because it checks Trans Union, Equifax @ Experion all together. All the details were correct and I forgot about it until this week. I check my banking app regularly and was surprised to find a £14.99 charge from Check My File. I contacted my bank and they told me I had signed up to a £14.99 per month subscription. I used the free offer just once but because I did not cancel it, I was on  an ongoing subscription by default. I contacted Check My File and they explained that I had used the free offer and did not cancel so the subscription commenced. I told them that I only wanted the one free check and did not want a subscription. They agreed to refund the first payment and cancel the subscriptions. I'm usually on the ball with my finances but this time it seems I inadvertently signed up to a subscription. Be careful out there and don't do as I did.

To be honest, this is the way that most such free trials work, and the fact that, in the absence of you cancelling, they charged the monthly fee to your account presumably indicates that you provided them with the details with which to do so, so when plugging your bank account details into such sites, it's always best to think about why they're asking for them.

Good result to get a refund though, they're not obliged to do so in such circumstances and many companies wouldn't.

toby_hayes

eskbanker said:

toby_hayes said:

A couple of weeks ago I used Check My File on a free 7 day offer to check my credit file. I used it because it checks Trans Union, Equifax @ Experion all together. All the details were correct and I forgot about it until this week. I check my banking app regularly and was surprised to find a £14.99 charge from Check My File. I contacted my bank and they told me I had signed up to a £14.99 per month subscription. I used the free offer just once but because I did not cancel it, I was on  an ongoing subscription by default. I contacted Check My File and they explained that I had used the free offer and did not cancel so the subscription commenced. I told them that I only wanted the one free check and did not want a subscription. They agreed to refund the first payment and cancel the subscriptions. I'm usually on the ball with my finances but this time it seems I inadvertently signed up to a subscription. Be careful out there and don't do as I did.

To be honest, this is the way that most such free trials work, and the fact that, in the absence of you cancelling, they charged the monthly fee to your account presumably indicates that you provided them with the details with which to do so, so when plugging your bank account details into such sites, it's always best to think about why they're asking for them.

Good result to get a refund though, they're not obliged to do so in such circumstances and many companies wouldn't.

eskbanker said:

toby_hayes said:

A couple of weeks ago I used Check My File on a free 7 day offer to check my credit file. I used it because it checks Trans Union, Equifax @ Experion all together. All the details were correct and I forgot about it until this week. I check my banking app regularly and was surprised to find a £14.99 charge from Check My File. I contacted my bank and they told me I had signed up to a £14.99 per month subscription. I used the free offer just once but because I did not cancel it, I was on  an ongoing subscription by default. I contacted Check My File and they explained that I had used the free offer and did not cancel so the subscription commenced. I told them that I only wanted the one free check and did not want a subscription. They agreed to refund the first payment and cancel the subscriptions. I'm usually on the ball with my finances but this time it seems I inadvertently signed up to a subscription. Be careful out there and don't do as I did.

To be honest, this is the way that most such free trials work, and the fact that, in the absence of you cancelling, they charged the monthly fee to your account presumably indicates that you provided them with the details with which to do so, so when plugging your bank account details into such sites, it's always best to think about why they're asking for them.

Good result to get a refund though, they're not obliged to do so in such circumstances and many companies wouldn't.

I would never give my bank or card details to accept a free offer. As soon as I was asked for them I would close the page. I was not alert as it was a credit file check. I don't remember having to input my bank details. My bank told me I accepted an £0.00 charge in my app. I let my guard down and will be more careful in future. I urge others to do the same. Do as I say, not as I did.

flaneurs_lobster

toby_hayes said:

I would never give my bank or card details to accept a free offer. As soon as I was asked for them I would close the page. I was not alert as it was a credit file check. I don't remember having to input my bank details. My bank told me I accepted an £0.00 charge in my app. I let my guard down and will be more careful in future. I urge others to do the same. Do as I say, not as I did.

The CheckMyFile signup process asks for card details after obtaining your name and address, it won't progress further without them.

Can kind of see that if you are trying to obtain copies of your credit report then being asked about your bank cards might not seem too anomalous but it's not required for this purpose.

Bit poor if they did not also confirm any such subscription having been set up before taking the first payment.

born_again

flaneurs_lobster said:

toby_hayes said:

I would never give my bank or card details to accept a free offer. As soon as I was asked for them I would close the page. I was not alert as it was a credit file check. I don't remember having to input my bank details. My bank told me I accepted an £0.00 charge in my app. I let my guard down and will be more careful in future. I urge others to do the same. Do as I say, not as I did.

The CheckMyFile signup process asks for card details after obtaining your name and address, it won't progress further without them.

Can kind of see that if you are trying to obtain copies of your credit report then being asked about your bank cards might not seem too anomalous but it's not required for this purpose.

Bit poor if they did not also confirm any such subscription having been set up before taking the first payment.

Best check Spam/junk folder 🤷‍♀️👍

eskbanker

toby_hayes said:

eskbanker said:

toby_hayes said:

A couple of weeks ago I used Check My File on a free 7 day offer to check my credit file. I used it because it checks Trans Union, Equifax @ Experion all together. All the details were correct and I forgot about it until this week. I check my banking app regularly and was surprised to find a £14.99 charge from Check My File. I contacted my bank and they told me I had signed up to a £14.99 per month subscription. I used the free offer just once but because I did not cancel it, I was on  an ongoing subscription by default. I contacted Check My File and they explained that I had used the free offer and did not cancel so the subscription commenced. I told them that I only wanted the one free check and did not want a subscription. They agreed to refund the first payment and cancel the subscriptions. I'm usually on the ball with my finances but this time it seems I inadvertently signed up to a subscription. Be careful out there and don't do as I did.

To be honest, this is the way that most such free trials work, and the fact that, in the absence of you cancelling, they charged the monthly fee to your account presumably indicates that you provided them with the details with which to do so, so when plugging your bank account details into such sites, it's always best to think about why they're asking for them.

Good result to get a refund though, they're not obliged to do so in such circumstances and many companies wouldn't.

I would never give my bank or card details to accept a free offer. As soon as I was asked for them I would close the page. I was not alert as it was a credit file check. I don't remember having to input my bank details. My bank told me I accepted an £0.00 charge in my app. I let my guard down and will be more careful in future. I urge others to do the same. Do as I say, not as I did.

How do you believe the company obtained your bank details in order to submit an initial authorisation for £0 and then the later £14.99?

Not trying to kick you when you're down though, but the main message should be 'if signing up for a free trial with any business, if they ask for bank/card details then consider why that is and make sure you read the offer terms to understand how to avoid costs', rather than pillorying this particular company.

toby_hayes

flaneurs_lobster said:

toby_hayes said:

I would never give my bank or card details to accept a free offer. As soon as I was asked for them I would close the page. I was not alert as it was a credit file check. I don't remember having to input my bank details. My bank told me I accepted an £0.00 charge in my app. I let my guard down and will be more careful in future. I urge others to do the same. Do as I say, not as I did.

The CheckMyFile signup process asks for card details after obtaining your name and address, it won't progress further without them.

Can kind of see that if you are trying to obtain copies of your credit report then being asked about your bank cards might not seem too anomalous but it's not required for this purpose.

Bit poor if they did not also confirm any such subscription having been set up before taking the first payment.

You said "signup process asks for card details after obtaining your name and address & won't progress further without them" and "it's not required for this purpose"

I'm puzzled, why do they ask for it if it's not needed?  

Not only am I down, I'm annoyed that I let my guard down. I now doubt my ability to prevent this happening again. I check my credit score monthly after receiving an email from an account I set up years ago but used the free offer as it checked all three credit reference agencies together. I should have KISS.

I received an email on 16 Jan 2026 confirming the Checkmyfile subscription cancellation. I kept it until I was sure that the £14.99 was refunded and no further charge is made. 

I empty my spam folder almost daily so there is not any mail to see from 2 weeks ago. 

flaneurs_lobster

toby_hayes said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

toby_hayes said:

I would never give my bank or card details to accept a free offer. As soon as I was asked for them I would close the page. I was not alert as it was a credit file check. I don't remember having to input my bank details. My bank told me I accepted an £0.00 charge in my app. I let my guard down and will be more careful in future. I urge others to do the same. Do as I say, not as I did.

The CheckMyFile signup process asks for card details after obtaining your name and address, it won't progress further without them.

Can kind of see that if you are trying to obtain copies of your credit report then being asked about your bank cards might not seem too anomalous but it's not required for this purpose.

Bit poor if they did not also confirm any such subscription having been set up before taking the first payment.

You said "signup process asks for card details after obtaining your name and address & won't progress further without them" and "it's not required for this purpose"

I'm puzzled, why do they ask for it if it's not needed?  

Not my clearest wording, what I meant was that a request for credit reports does not require you to give details of any of your bank accounts (or credit cards, finance deals etc).

Someone who is not familiar with how credit reporting requests work may assume that being asked for details of cards may be a normal part of the request and not what it actually is - details of a card from which subscription payments may be taken.

toby_hayes

flaneurs_lobster 

Someone who is not familiar with how credit reporting requests work may assume that being asked for details of cards may be a normal part of the request and not what it actually is - details of a card from which subscription payments may be taken.

That is exactly the problem. If I had been using a free offer in any other circumstances, I would have been suspicious to be asked for bank card details if I did not want to pay for a subscription. I was on a site that would have needed some details to check my credit file and providing bank or bank card details did not surprise me. 

I hope I have learned from this experience so I don't inadvertently approve any charge without realising I have done so.  

Thank you.

CliveOfIndia

To be fair, right at the top of the home page it says:

"New to Checkmyfile? Get a FREE 7-day trial, then it’s £14.99 a month – cancel online anytime."  It's not exactly hidden - and pretty much anything that states it's a "free trial" will automatically start a subscription if you don't explicitly cancel.

Then again at the bottom, with all the T&C stuff:

"Monthly fee of £14.99 applies after your free 7-day trial. You can cancel at any time online, or contact us by phone or email to request this. The free 7-day trial applies only to new customers aged 18 years or over who are living in the UK. The 7-day free trial period starts when you register"

toby_hayes

CliveOfIndia said:

To be fair, right at the top of the home page it says:

"New to Checkmyfile? Get a FREE 7-day trial, then it’s £14.99 a month – cancel online anytime."  It's not exactly hidden - and pretty much anything that states it's a "free trial" will automatically start a subscription if you don't explicitly cancel.

Then again at the bottom, with all the T&C stuff:

"Monthly fee of £14.99 applies after your free 7-day trial. You can cancel at any time online, or contact us by phone or email to request this. The free 7-day trial applies only to new customers aged 18 years or over who are living in the UK. The 7-day free trial period starts when you register"

All of that is true and it was my mistake. 

Looking at the details and what I remember, I think the payment approval should be clearer. I can now understand how people who don't check their bank app or statements can end up paying subscriptions for a couple of years before noticing.