Checkmyfile - any good?

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jakesuk
jakesuk Posts: 226 Forumite
in Credit file & ratings
Does anyone use checkmyfile.com to check their reports with all 3 CRAs?

I want to view live information and it seems more cost effective to pay a monthly fee to one company rather than 2.

I know accessing statutory reports would be cheaper but I want regular information.......

Cheers
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Comments

  • fermi
    fermi Posts: 40,546 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker Intrepid Forum Explorer
    edited 28 December 2014 at 11:28AM
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    CMF does not show your actual credit account information from Experian, only public record data, so that makes in next to useless as a multi-agency report.

    CMF do their best to hide or distract you from that fact on their website.

    From accounts it also seems to often lag on updates compared to the actual CRAs, and makes it difficult to dispute anything if you find something not right.

    Would be better use of your money to just get a £2 report once per month direct from each agency or whenever you think something needs checking.
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  • Tryingtomoveout
    Tryingtomoveout Posts: 99 Forumite
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    Hi, I totally agree with the previous post.

    I tend to get my credit report from Experian about once every 2 months and it only costs £2 a time.There's little point in paying to see the report at any time because it takes time to update, and some accounts will only report data once a month....

    With Noddle you can view your report for free anyway...

    I hope this helps.
  • JKSandy
    JKSandy Posts: 711 Forumite
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    Checkmyfile is not all three agencies, it's only equifax and call credit reports. You only get experian public report ie no actual information about your credit agreements.

    Also it only updates once a month, so any credit applications you make etc will not show until the next month.

    Other than using it for the free trial then cancelling it's not worth the fee.
    All that glitters is not gold.
  • jakesuk
    jakesuk Posts: 226 Forumite
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    Thanks everyone. CMF definitely isn't for me! Will stick to statutory reports at £2 a pop.
  • Creditcalm
    Creditcalm Posts: 10 Forumite
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    I think it's worth the 8 quid a month just for the independent advice they give. Freephone number and answered straight away by someone in this country who knows what they are talking about. Not full experian but still most info (kind of two and half reports) - all for half price of one agency online sub! Quicker than statutory report, easier to read, tailored advice and loads of credit score info.
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
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    Creditcalm wrote: »
    I think it's worth the 8 quid a month just for the independent advice they give. Freephone number and answered straight away by someone in this country who knows what they are talking about. Not full experian but still most info (kind of two and half reports) - all for half price of one agency online sub! Quicker than statutory report, easier to read, tailored advice and loads of credit score info.

    You can get your equifax and callcredit statutpry reports instantly online, so I don't see how CMF can be any quicker.

    You can get your callcredit file once a month for free through noddle, so all you get for your £8 is a monthly equifax report which you could by for £2.

    In terms of the advice and infor - as credit scores are basically useless so therefore is any information on credit scores.

    And if you need to actually query any entries/ask the CRA to investigate you have to go direct to the relevant main agency anyway.

    I've never understood how anyone with a basic understanding of how credit reference agencies and lenders work would use or pay for CMF.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
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  • Creditcalm
    Creditcalm Posts: 10 Forumite
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    They dispute Equifax info directly (don't ask me how but they do and it works). It's good to know can phone freephone number and get through straight away. Because they not an agency their scores are independent (more like a lenders?)... But yeah I know credit scores are individual to each lender.

    Just seems good value for money, and good customer service?

    Noodle only shows info from last three years and no credit score anyway?
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
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    Creditcalm wrote: »
    They dispute Equifax info directly (don't ask me how but they do and it works). It's good to know can phone freephone number and get through straight away. Because they not an agency their scores are independent (more like a lenders?)... But yeah I know credit scores are individual to each lender.

    Not really anything more like lenders no. As just like the main agencies they also don't know much of the information that a lender will use to make a decision.
    Creditcalm wrote: »
    Just seems good value for money, and good customer service?

    I guess that is a matter of opinion, but in mine it seems like a waste of money.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • Creditcalm
    Creditcalm Posts: 10 Forumite
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    Two and half times the credit file info? More than one agency and more than most lenders (usually one search with one agency, sometimes two for mortgage)...not application info. But this is mostly salary related to work out affordability. If you can't afford credit you are applying for you would probably know this!
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
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    Creditcalm wrote: »
    Two and half times the credit file info?

    Or more accurately 2/3 of the info for twice the price!
    Creditcalm wrote: »
    If you can't afford credit you are applying for you would probably know this!

    However there are very many people who post on here unable to understand why they can't get credit when a credit reference agency has given them a score of 999 or rated them as excellent, or can't find a lender willing to offer them consolidation loans etc
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
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