How Often Should I Check My Credit Report?

Your credit report is what lenders, banks and other businesses see when they check your credit score. It’s vitally important to us as consumers, so we tend to assume the information those lenders see is 100% correct and up-to-date.

We may think it’s not necessary to check our credit report regularly, because it’s probably pretty accurate, right? Sure, it might be good to know what your credit score is, and you should probably do everything you can to improve and maintain it, but do you really need to check it for errors? Surely those are very rare.

Apparently not. According to McCarthy Law, 34% of customers have spotted at least one error on their credit reports, including accounts they didn’t recognize, “missed payments” that were actually paid, and “late payments” that had in fact been paid on time.

That’s why it’s a good idea to check your report once a year and make sure the information that lenders and other financial professionals are basing their decisions on is accurate and up-to-date. Checking your report from time to time allows you to do a few important things.

Correct Any Errors

This is the most obvious one and can take a few different forms. It could be that your information is slightly out-of-date or just plain wrong. Another person (who you’re no longer associated with) could be showing up as financially linked to you on your report because you previously shared a bank account or a financial commitment.

Some mistakes don’t make much sense. They could be due to a simple typo somewhere along the way. So check everything just to make sure. If you make every payment on time, make sure there are no late payments listed. If you’ve successfully paid off a loan, perhaps by making extra payments, make sure it’s not still listed as outstanding. Make sure all your credit cards are listed too.

I recently realized my report was missing a credit card I’d had forever (maybe because I originally took it out in my pre-marriage name). This is a credit card I still have but rarely use. However it has a very high limit on it so having it factored into my credit score could have a big (positive) impact on my credit utilization rate.

Protect Yourself Against Fraud

While many inaccuracies found on credit reports are honest mistakes, or info that just hasn’t yet been updated, there are also countless scams that you could potentially fall victim to without knowing it. Some of these scams are ones you can be alerted to if you just check your credit report from time to time. You’ll be able to see if there is any inexplicable activity under your name that could point to potential identity theft or fraud.

According to a report from Lending Tree, as few as 33% of Americans had checked their credit reports in the previous year. What’s more, older Americans are even less likely to do so, with just 20% of those aged 75 or older having checked their report. This is significant as scammers tend to target older people, and various factors can make them more vulnerable to fraud.

Get Proactive

Perhaps the most important aspect of knowing exactly what’s on your report is that this information can help you improve it. If you sign up with the major credit agencies such as Experian and Equifax, they’ll even tell you how. They can provide you with the specific actions you need to take to improve your score and tell you what you’re doing right, so you’re not tempted to stop doing it.

They can even tell you how long you have to keep up a certain action before you get another boost on your score. This can really help you plan for the future. Putting off applying for new credit until just after something that will give you a score boost for example, means you’ll have more options and maybe be offered better interest rates or terms.

So How Exactly Do I Check My Credit Report?

In the U.S., you can get a free credit report each year from the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

The U.S. government is currently offering consumers more frequent checks (up until December 2023) due to financial hardships caused by Covid-19. But under normal circumstances, checking your report once a year is probably enough. It’s a simple process that can be completed online.

Just be aware that the US federal government states that AnnualCreditReport.com is the only website authorized by them to issue free, annual credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies, so head over there to get started.

Karen Banes is a freelance writer specializing in entrepreneurship, parenting and lifestyle. She writes articles, website content, ebooks and the occasional award winning short story. Her work has appeared in a range of publications both online and off, including The Washington Post, Life Info Magazine, Transitions Abroad, Brave New Traveler, Natural Parenting Group, and Copia Magazine. Learn More About Karen