For many years, Experian—one of the most well-known credit reporting companies—has been enabling Americans to get free credit reports and free credit scores. But changes in recent times have raised fresh issues in people's minds: is Experian still free? Alternatively, do you now have to pay for both seeing your FICO score and your real Experian credit report?
We will especially focus in this post on the issue of whether Experian will still be offering its consumers free services in 2023. The credit reporting sector underwent what change? If you can't utilize Experian's services longer, let's review its free offerings now and talk about some alternative options to get your credit report for free.
The End of AnnualCreditReport.com
Consumers may get their free credit report via the government-created AnnualCreditReport.com, which was developed by the top three credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—before the epidemic started. This allowed consumers to examine their credit reports from all three credit agencies and do it without the pay-off required.
But AnnualCreditReport.com lacked free weekly credit reports as of December 1, 2022. Starting from September 2007, nevertheless, you only get one report year from each of the credit bureaus. One approach shoppers may quickly get the Experian credit report without paying for it is by use of this.
The case of Free FICO Scores and unauthorized access
Moreover, some free FICO score services which were earlier provided by Experian and other financials have also been taken down.
Earlier there were many credit card companies and personal finance Web sites that offered fee-reporting services based on FICO scores and Experian data. This enabled people to make frequent check-ups for their scores to detect identity theft cases and also to analyze their credit health status.
However, the reality is that many of the companies that have provided free FICO scores have since stopped these programs in recent years. However, badly these services are needed, it has become difficult to monitor your Experian FICO score free of charge frequently.
Experian has a range of free products that it offers and some of them include the following Free Products of Experian.
It is quite frankly disappointing that consumers no longer have the luxury of immediate access to free credit reports and scores. However, all is not lost when it comes to getting free Experian data out there as we are going to explore below.
Below are some of the free ones that are still available to be claimed from Experian in 2023:
- Experian IdentityWorks Basic Plan provides you with a basic level of protection but with more features and options than the free trial.
- Free Trial Experian credit report through the website but this requires registration.
- Free Experian credit report through FreeCreditReportcom as mentioned above is the link.
- CreditMatchTM – An opportunity to get acquainted with the data of the report without purchasing the full version of the Experian service.
It is going to be useful to take a brief look at each of them below:
Experian IdentityWorks Basic
It is also possible to get a free VantageScore credit score that is updated every month through the Experian IdentityWorks Basic plan. It also encompasses identity theft tracking and access to the Experian credit report.
To join this scheme, one will be required to give certain personal details and consent to be contacted by Experian about its marketing products by email.
Free Credit Report from Experian Official
You may also go to the official Experian credit website if you wish to obtain your free annual credit report as mandated by the federal government. The name, address, social security number, and date of birth are required to register with Carpenter Electric.
In the preference under the account settings, you can also agree to buy low-priced Experian credit monitoring services. However, the free report does not mean any payments are necessary to complete the process of claiming your report.
FreeCreditReport.com
This site owned by Experian offers a free trial of Experian credit report for seven days and after that, you are allowed one credit report every 14 months – or once a year. If all you wanted was the free report, the site will automatically bill you after the trial period is over so be sure to cancel it within the trial period.
CreditMatch by Experian
While CreditMatch does not contain your full credit report information, it can give you an idea of how well you are doing as far as your credit score is concerned. However, it is a free method to look at FICO credit ranges as estimated by the Experian report and to get to see the credit card offers that apply to you without any lowering of your credit scores. Anyone who wants to use the service must first register for the service at its basic level.
The availability and disclosure of data regarding an individual’s credit report has in the recent past reduced because of legal measures and business profits. Although Experian still has some ways that allow consumers to get the information for free, the free FICO credit scores and reports are not available to the consumers easily in the current scenario.
Other ways to obtain free credit reports are important documents that provide information on consumers’ creditworthiness and to get free credit reports you can try the following methods.
If you have no intention of giving out loads of personal details only to get your free credit reports, there are several other ways to go about the process apart from going through Experian.
Here are two additional ways to get free credit reports:
- Order by Phone: To get a free copy of the credit report from each, please dial 1-877-322-8228.
- Order by Mail: Free annual credit reports are available from 3 major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion You may download and fill out a form known as the Annual Credit Report Request Form from the Federal Trade Commission’s website or you can write directly to HomeSecurity, Annual Credit Report Request Service, P. O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Do not forget to make copies of your identity cards, and bring the original copies as well.
The Bottom Line
It is much less easy to obtain your credit information free today, but there are still a couple of ways to obtain your Experian credit data without parting with cash.
Be ready to offer more registration details and turn down offers for paid subscriptions when opting for the freebies from Experian. However, if you prefer to get the reports through the official channels mentioned above, you can do so through government-sanctioned means.
However, with a little more effort, American consumers can still pull their Experian credit reports and scores for free, annually, or monthly by using the methods outlined in this article. It’s very simple, the issue is that you just don’t get free reign as you used to in the past. If one wants to get the credit report as updated as possible, then the credit monitoring services from Experian or any other bureau are mandatory for every consumer.
Call now for expert credit repair services: (888) 803-7889
Read More:
Can I get a $20000 loan with a 700-credit score?
What FICO score do car dealers use?
Can I get any car with a 700-credit score?
Can you get a car loan with a 524-credit score?
Can you build a 700-credit score in 30 days?
