Many Americans Don't Check Their Credit Reports -- Could be Losing Thousands

Here are some interesting statistics from Bankrate's piece on credit ignorance being an expensive mistake:

Nearly half of Americans may be missing out on opportunities to save money because they neglect to check their credit scores. Forty-five percent of the people we surveyed say they have never checked their credit scores.

So 45% of Americans have never, ever checked their credit scores. Honestly, I can't say that I've ever checked my credit SCORE either. Credit reports are a different issue for me -- I check mine at least once a year -- but many don't do this as well:

Our latest national poll reveals that 32 percent of Americans surveyed say they never check their credit reports, meaning they have no idea whether the information on their reports is correct. Considering the fact that reports often contain inaccuracies, there’s a large chance that tens of millions of Americans are throwing money away needlessly each month.

Exactly how is this potentially costing them money? Well, for instance:

Even if you don't think of yourself as someone who uses credit, your credit score can affect the rate on your auto insurance and  sneak up on you in other ways, impacting cell phone policies and apartment rental agreements.

And here's a quote I found to be both amusing and true:

Adding together those who don't check reports regularly with those who never do, the poll results reveal that 50 percent of those surveyed aren't taking responsibility for their credit accuracy. "People would rather watch a basketball game than save hundreds of thousands of dollars. They'll buy books on making money on real estate, but won't pick the low-hanging fruit," says Ulzheimer.

I would certainly rather watch a basketball game than check my credit report too. ;-)

But I do check my report regularly. It's simply part of managing our finances.

I've noticed as well that people will buy all sorts of get-rich-quick and hot-to-make-a-killing-in-the-stock-market books, yet ignore simple, easy-to-implement tips that could really make their net worths grow. Why is this? I think it's because one set of options is "sexy" while the others are "boring." But in my book, "sexy" is a high net worth. So I do the "boring" stuff because I know those steps will make my net worth "sexy." Know what I mean? ;-)

Comments

[Austin]

I randomly decided to check my credit report to see what it looked like. I had bookmarked a site mentioned on Clark Howard's radio show that was actually free, unlike freecreditreport.com. The site is annualcreditreport.com, it allows you to check your credit report one time a year free of charge. Well, it is a good, no, GREAT thing I did. Not only were there 2 cards listed that I was unaware of, but one had a past due balance!

Upon further investigation with the card holding bank, they told me the address(a past residence in college...) and places it was used. It turns out that the card was opened back when I was in college, but never used. Four years later, they purchased another bank's credit accounts and decided to send new cards out to all the old customers; with no verification required!
The thieves went on a twp day spending spree; $120 at a deli/pub(party?) and $85 at a gas station(keg?).
The bank employee assisting me even said this was typical behavior for this type of fraud. "Pump and Dump" she called it.
Lucky for me, this event only happened 3 months ago, so the payment was technically only one month past due. Lucky only because I had not been sent to collections.

The bank was extremely helpful and guided me through the process. They even followed up with a phone call after the issue was resolved on my credit and walked me through setting up a fraud alert for my info and that address.
The charges were cleared and the account closed.

I suggest you check your credit report once a year. If you want to check your credit score, it seems the only legit place to do that is myfico.com

[Barnhill]

Annualcreditreport.com only works with US based ISP's. They block it for others. I work overseas.

[EMF (just checked my own credit report)]

I check one of the 3 companies every 4 months. That way I minimize my exposure to situations such as Austin experienced.