Is Credit Monitoring Worth It?

Another common question people ask, “Is credit monitoring worth it?”

Nowadays, it seems as if everyone is offering credit monitoring protection, from banks to credit card issuers to 3 major credit bureaus, but is it necessary?

Sure these services can come in handy in certain situations, but they probably aren’t crucial for most consumers, especially when you execute a credit report dispute for free.

Credit monitoring, often branded as “identity theft protection,” typically costs about $10-$15 a month, usually with some kind of free or discounted introductory period.

Unfortunately, it’s an ongoing fee, like a cell phone bill or a utility payment, and at $15 a month, you’re looking at $180 a year to monitor your credit.  Who needs another bill every month?

For me, it’s simply not worth it, unless my credit is in really bad shape and needs serious TLC (what is a bad credit score?).

That said, if you plan to apply for a mortgage or make any other major credit purchase, it’s wise to pull your credit early on, often months before, to see where you stand on the credit score range.

And yes, you can get a free credit report without a credit card, but it doesn’t include a free credit score.

From there, you can decide if you’ll need something more serious, such as credit monitoring.  If you have what is considered a good credit score, there’s really no need to monitor it at a cost.

Instead, keep an eye on all your accounts to ensure they haven’t been compromised and no payments have been missed.

If your credit is in bad shape, it might make sense to opt in to a credit monitoring program while you clean things up.

That way, you’ll be able to track your progress and utilize the tools available to dispute errors or invalid claims on your credit report.

Credit monitoring is especially helpful if you’ve got one error in particular that you’d like to dispute, such as a collection or charge-off, as most of these programs faciliate the process and provide online tracking.

(photo: drachmann)