Among the various chunks of SPAM in my inbox today was an invitation to get a free copy of my credit report from Experian. I know this has been a legal right for a while in the States, but over here it usually costs money, so I went to have a closer look. Of course, the bait turned out to conceal a hook
Before I can see the report, I first have to supply various bits of personal information (OK, they have to do something to ensure that only the real data subject sees the report...), and the usual other bits of metadata (username, password, mother's maiden name, memorable word, memorable word hint, etc. etc. etc...). Then I have to enter my payment card details.
Huh?
It turns out that what I'm being invited to sign up for is a 30-day free trial of their CreditExpert service... after which it will cost me £6.99 a month (£83.88 a year). It was not clear whether the billing would simply start by default, or whether I would have to take some further step in 30 days' time to start paying. On that basis, I was not prepared to go any further.
A little more investigation revealed that for a one-off payment of £11.95, Experian's largest UK rival, Equifax, will send me a single report.
Irritatingly, both companies seem to think that, just because I want to see my own credit report, I also want a 'customer relationship' with them. I don't. I want a transaction, and that's not the same thing.
[Disclaimer: I have no professional or commercial stake in either Experian or Equifax... though their urlicon indicates that Equifax's website runs on Sun.]
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Robin – Like you I poked around their website a month or two ago. I seem to remember that Experian will also sell you a single report, and for less than Equifax's £11.95, but you have to dig quite deep to find it. Agreed about the relationship thing, but everyone seems to do it - at one stage I used to receive regular letters from the 'Relationship Manager' at my bank!
Posted by John Sandell on August 04, 2008 at 12:51 PM GMT+00:00 #
Both organisations should make a simple copy of your credit report (or at least the information they hold which is relevant to your financial standing) available on request for the princely sum of £2.00 under Data Protection legislation. Obviously this may not have the same analysis of a consumer report of the type they also sell, but will have all the necessary to check that no adverse entries or fraudulent applications have been made.
Posted by pslblogger on August 04, 2008 at 01:53 PM GMT+00:00 #
Thanks, both.
Interesting, isn't it, that the lower down the cost scale you go, the harder the information is to find?
With apologies to Douglas Adams...
"You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything."
"But the [prices] were on display ..."
"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
"That's the display department."
"With a flashlight."
"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."
"So had the stairs."
"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"
"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."
Posted by Robin Wilton on August 04, 2008 at 02:04 PM GMT+00:00 #