This is how I have operated ever since the Equifax breach. Once that happened, none of the others seemed to matter, everything important for identity theft is out there.
I've had no problems. Someone will try to run my credit, it will fail, then I ask which one they're trying to use, and I unfreeze it for a day. Some of them have the option to unfreeze for a single pull with a 1 time code (if I remember correctly), but when I tried to use that the person trying to pull the report seemed clueless, so I had to do the 1 day unfreeze.
Unfortunately it isn’t an option in every country. In the U.S., you can freeze your credit for free, but in the UK, you can’t. I think we should get rid of the CRAs entirely, but that’s a conversation for another day.
One interesting thing I ran into with frozen credit, is that you cannot sign up for USPS informed delivery without them running your credit as a method of address verification IIRC. If it is frozen the process gets stuck in limbo (at least it did many years ago when I ran into this situation)
I open credit cards for the bonuses frequently enough that freezing my credit would be more inconvenience than it’s worth.
Also, all the big bank websites seem to offer real time credit history monitoring for free, so I am betting I’ll just deal with any problem if/when they happen.
Keeping your credit frozen permanently is a great idea. Some of the credit agencies even encourage this with features such as a temporary unfreeze of your credit for a few days/weeks and then back to the permanently frozen state.
That's what I do. It also slows my roll. It's an extra step I have to take before making that large purchase or applying for anything that requires a credit check.
It's an extra step, but a surprisingly simple one. When I opened a checking account recently the bank told me which credit agency they'd use, and I unfroze that account and ChexSystems (another credit agency you should freeze with that is used specifically for new bank accounts) in five minutes using their automated systems. You can supply a re-freeze date when unfreezing as well so you don't need to remember to do that manually once you're approved.
Yep. This is what I did after the first Experian data breach, for peace of mind. I am probably financially lucky enough that I don't need to constantly be checking or using my credit... but honestly it seems like this is what everyone needs to be doing.
As someone else mentioned, some authentication schemes require your credit to be unfrozen. This can include insurance companies (really any company that needs to verify your identity)
That’s what I do. But it’s a little bit of pain to unfreeze your credit with three bureaus when you want a new credit card. Wish there was a way to do this in one place.
