Paying Experian £14.99

singhini · 10 July 2018 at 3:18PM

I’m old and having a brain freeze, please help!

I’m looking into reducing my monthly expenditure and noticed I have an account with Experian for which I pay £14.99 a month.

I took the account about 5 years ago as I started to get random letters from mobile phone companies concerning phone contracts being taken out in my name (I later discovered that the accounts were not in my name and neither was I the victim of fraud, but yes my address was being used).

I occasionally used to get Experian alert emails telling me someone has viewed my credit score, but this always turned out to be insurance companies looking me up usually around the time my annual car or household insurance renewals were due (I have not received an email from Experian for well over 9 months now).

So it was the fear factor that someone might be trying to take finance in my name that led me to initially open the Experian account.

Fast forward to today and I question myself as to why am I paying £14.99 a month for something I never look at or use.

Is there a cheaper way for me to keep an eye on my credit file? (More importantly a way to keep an eye out to protect myself against people trying to take out finance in my name?)

Help much appreciated.

glentoran99 · 10 July 2018 at 3:24PM

yes

Clearscore - Equifax
Noddle - Call Credit
and MSE credit club - Experian

all free

Candyapple · 10 July 2018 at 3:47PM

Don't forget to get your money back!
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/experian-creditexpert-reclaiming/

worried_jim · 10 July 2018 at 3:50PM

£899 over 5 years for something that is free:eek:

spadoosh · 10 July 2018 at 3:58PM

singhini wrote: »

Fast forward to today and I question myself as to why am I paying £14.99 a month for something I never look at or use.

Is there a cheaper way for me to keep an eye on my credit file? (More importantly a way to keep an eye out to protect myself against people trying to take out finance in my name?)

Help much appreciated.

Use any of the credit refernce agencies free services to look at your credit report.

Pick a date, lets say the 1st of each month, log in to each of the accounts, have a look at the recent searches section, anything you dont like the look of investigate. Save yourself £14.99 per month.

Alternatively you can give me £9.99 per month and log in details and ill do it for you checking on a weekly basis. :cool:

National_Debtline · 10 July 2018 at 4:03PM

Hi Singhini

Statutory credit reports are completely free of charge since the recent changes in Data Protection law.

Dennis
@natdebtline

singhini · 10 July 2018 at 11:00PM

Dear all, thank-you for your input and help; greatly appreciated.

I will give Experian a call tomorrow and cancel their services (and go with MSE Credit Club as its Experian anyway) [Glentoran99]

The idea of log-in once a month and review the account is so simple and obvious its brilliant (I already take my gas and electric meter readings every month and submit them to my provider, so this can be done on the same day) [Spadoosh]

Thank Dennis [National Debtline], ive not kept myself upto date with the changes and so thanks for pointing that out.

£899 really does bring it home and hence I will defo make the call to Experian in the morning [Worried Jim]

Thanks Candyapple for providing the link re: Claiming the fees back (not sure I will TBH, I knowingly took the product and thus I will just take it on the chin).

Thanks once again

T-G-C · 10 July 2018 at 11:49PM

If you are concerned about being a victim of fraud, Experian cannot provide protection against it, however I understand the reassurance it provided, regarding monitoring for suspicious activities.

For a one-off payment of £20, CIFAS will add a protective registration to your credit file, protecting you from fraudsters being able to obtain credit using your information. This is due to the enhanced checks that members of CIFAS conduct to ensure an application is genuine. This is valid on your file for 24 months.

https://www.cifas.org.uk/services/identity-protection/protective-registration

This is a much cheaper option than Experian's subscription fee and does provide the protection required in real time to prevent credit obtained using your details fraudulently.

This does not affect your credit file negatively and lenders will not decline an application solely due to this being present, however their checks will be more extensive than usual e.g identity documentation.

singhini · 11 July 2018 at 12:41AM

Thanks T-G-C (some good advice I will follow up on). gosh £14.99 for one month versus £20 for twenty four and its the actual protection I am looking for

singhini · 13 July 2018 at 2:41PM

Quick question:

I've joined the MSE credit club and I now have access to my credit report (perfect).

My question is, how do I save the credit report as a Pdf (when I click the tab "print or save for your records" it only lets me print, not save); anyone know please?

shiny76 · 13 July 2018 at 3:33PM

singhini wrote: »

Quick question:

I've joined the MSE credit club and I now have access to my credit report (perfect).

My question is, how do I save the credit report as a Pdf (when I click the tab "print or save for your records" it only lets me print, not save); anyone know please?

It may well depend on what device and browser you're using. I'm using Chrome on a MacBook. Clicking on "Print or save for your records" brings up the print 'pop-up' window. I can then 'change the destination' which then provides a link to Save as PDF or Click the link to 'Open PDF in preview' and then save to my chosen destination.

I imagine most device/browser combinations will provide a similar method

Paying Experian £14.99

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