Experian Credit Monitoring Review
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Experian is one of the three credit reporting bureaus that assesses credit worthiness and assigns credit scores to U.S. consumers. In addition to this role, Experian has expanded their service offerings to include an ongoing credit monitoring service for consumers called CreditWorks Premium.
Experian Credit Monitoring Review
- Best for: Price. Experian offers one of the most affordable options for credit monitoring. Get a 30-day free trial from Experian here.
- Price: Experian has a credit monitoring plan for $4.99/month, as well as two identity theft protection plans for $9.99/month and $19.99/month. Experian also lets you pay for a year upfront, which gives you substantial discount on the plans.
- Plans: Experian’s credit monitoring plan, CreditWorksSM Premium, offers monitoring off all three of your credit reports and lets you know when key changes happen. It also offers two identity theft plans, IdentityWorksSM Plus plan and the IdentityWorksSM Premium. The Plus plan offers the basics of identity theft, while the Premium plan offers extras like FICO credit scores, social security number monitoring and non-credit loan alerts.
- Features: Experian’s CreditWorksSM Premium monitoring your three credit reports and will alert you if there are any major changes to your credit reports. The identity theft plans offer additional monitoring for any breaches in identity theft security.
- Customer Service: Experian offers stellar customer support, allowing you to do everything from disputing credit report errors and adding fraud alerts from its website. It also offers phone support 7 days a week, as well as email support.
Experian’s CreditWorks Premium offers daily monitoring of your credit scores from all three credit agencies. This includes your FICO score, which is the standard most companies use when they check your credit.
Experian sends you email alerts when there is a change to your score or new activity is detected in your credit file. You can also log into your account on their online portal to review your scores and credit activity.
Price: $4.99 trial for the first month and then $24.99/month thereafter
Credit Reports and Score Updates: Updated Experian FICO 8 scores and credit reports are available every day. Updated credit reports and FICO scores from Equifax and TransUnion are provided every 30 days.
Identity Theft Features: CreditWorks Premium members can have their Experian credit report locked, prohibiting new credit inquiries. Their premium service also includes up to $1 million in identity theft insurance with no deductible.
Cancellation: Experian’s credit monitoring services is offered on a month-to-month basis, allowing cancellation at your request.
Customer Service: You can reach out to Experian’s customer service representatives by phone or email. You can also access their help database on your online dashboard.
Optional Credit Monitoring Services: Rather than sign up for their premium ongoing monitoring service, you can order your Experian Credit Report and FICO score for $19.99 or all three bureau reports with FICO scores for $39.99. These are one-time fees for static reports and scores.
User Reviews: Experian offers credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, as well as operating as a credit reporting bureau. Online reviews tend to rate all these services under one “Experian” umbrella. So, it’s difficult to get a clear picture of their CreditWorks reviews. But one prevalent complaint is how difficult it is to get hold of a live Experian representative on the phone. This detrimentally impacts customer service satisfaction and the ability to cancel.
Experian CreditWorks Premium is an effective tool for consumers working on their credit. You can check it often to review changes as you launch or re-establish your credit worthiness. Getting immediate notifications when there’s an adverse action or your score drops gives you the opportunity to address the issue right away.
If you’re already happy with your credit score and you just want to keep it that way, CreditWorks can help you, but it may be overkill. There are less expensive credit monitoring services that may fit the bill. In the end, it should be determined by your personal preferences and needs.
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