Experian is one of the three consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States that compiles credit information on consumers and offers credit reports and credit scores. Some people are not very familiar with the company and they ask whether it has a monthly fee for the credit reports and other services. This article is intended to give insight into what features and services are free and which ones are paid in Experian so that you will be informed about what to expect.
Free Services from Experian
Fortunately, Experian does not make the mistake of charging consumers a monthly fee to check credit reports.
They offer several free services to consumers, including:
- AnnualCreditReport.com – Federal law entitles you to get three credit reports in a year – one each from the three major credit bureaus, including Experian. It is possible to get your Experian credit report from AnnualCreditReport. com for free.
- Free credit monitoring – Experian offers free credit monitoring that can give alerts whenever there are changes to your credit information in your Experian credit report to alert you of any fraudulent activity. However, it does not contain an actual credit report which is the primary document used by credit Granting Agencies.
- Identity theft resources – These are the links that will assist an identity theft victim, and since Experian is a credit bureau company, they have free fraud resolution support to help the victim recover from the credit damage. This includes free Credit monitoring alerts and access to your Experian credit reports and scores for one year.
Apart from the consumer products, Experian gives business credit reports and business credit monitoring services free of charge to business people. That is why you can check your access to the copies of your annual credit reports and monitor for identity theft free of charge for Experian’s monthly or annual fee.
Paid Products and Services
While Experian won't charge you simply to view your credit information, they do offer upgraded paid products that provide additional features and services, including:
- Credit monitoring plan - The regular check on your credit report for a monthly fee will enable you to access Experian credit reports and scores frequently in a year. While it is not mentioned, the basic fees can be approximately $19. 99-24. 99 per month.
- Identity protection – The credit monitoring feature offered by Experian includes monitoring of credit across all three bureaus daily, alerts in case of suspicious activity, identity restoration services, and identity theft insurance which is up to $1,000,000 for prices ranging from $9. 99-19. 99 every month.
- Business credit monitoring – For $14. 99 -$39. 99 monthly, business owners can access the business credit report of Experian and have data on new inquiries, new accounts opened, score changes, and reporting agencies.
As it is, most of the paid products from Experian renew monthly once one signs up and grants one constant access to the most recent credit data for credit repair and to protect identity. However, having a monthly fee to maintain the service to get updates on the credit information is not necessary.
Preventing Unexpected Charges
When signing up for paid Experian products, consumers should carefully note the terms and costs to prevent unexpected charges down the road:
- Check the price and the renewal policy so you understand how much you will be charged at a g,o, especially in terms of credit card subscriptions. If you do not wish for the subscription to renew, this must be done one month before the date for renewal.
- Do not automatically enroll in ‘free trial’ services that you may unwittingly agree to pay every month once your trial is over. Make sure to go through the stipulations carefully before registering for a trial to know its limitations as compared to the monthly subscription service and avoid inputting payment card information.
- Put in your calendar to reconsider your use of the particular paid subscription and decide if it is necessary or desired before each monthly subscription renewal.
- Look at the credit card and the bank statements once a month to ensure that you do not find any charge from Experian that you never authorized. Whenever you come across a merchant who charges you a fee you did not authorize, contact your card issuer right away.
Using the services of Experian to access your personal credit information does not involve any other fees except a one-time charge without monthly subscriptions. Some products offer extra features such as monitoring and protection services charged every month – so take your time and find out which free tools can offer what you need so you do not have to pay repeatedly. Review each of the offers carefully and do not renew any subscription with Experian once you have received the required value from its paid services. To this end with due regard to charges that inadvertently be incurred, there is an option of using Experian services to check credit without necessarily getting charged per month.
Call now for expert credit repair services: (888) 803-7889
Read More:
Why is my credit score going down when I pay on time?
What is a good Experian credit score?
Can I put a lock on my Social Security number?
Does Experian prevent identity theft?