While its name suggests otherwise, you’ll have to pay to get your credit score from this provider.
Consumers get free access to their credit report once a year from each of the three credit bureaus — Transunion, Equifax and Experian. But what’s missing is your actual score and ongoing monitoring to catch any mistakes or questionable activity.
A paid service like GoFreeCredit offers more insight into your credit than what an annual credit check includes. This service offers access to your scores from all three bureaus and alerts if something changes in your report. But it’s not free.
- Credit reports from all 3 bureaus
- Email alerts when your credit report changes
- Up to $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance
What is GoFreeCredit
ConsumerTrack owns and operates GoFreeCredit as well as GoBankingRates.com and RewardandTravel.com. It’s served 1 million people since it started in 2007. A monthly membership gets you regular access to a full credit report from TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
If you’re approaching a large purchase like a house or car, a high credit score of 700 or higher can get you the best rates. Keeping tabs on your credit report can help you determine if you’re ready to apply for loans, or need to wait for your score to improve.
How can I check my credit score with GoFreeCredit?
GoFreeCredit offers customers a free seven-day trial for access to their credit score and $1 for a credit report from TransUnion. After the free trial, you’re automatically charged $19.95 for a monthly subscription for access to your credit report from all three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
GoFreeCredit isn’t clear how often it updates your FICO score, so the score you see may not match the industry-standard FICO score used by many lenders. Nonetheless, you can watch the score supplied by GoFreeCredit over time to get an indication of how it’s changing.
How much does it cost?
Despite the “free” in GoFreeCredit, the service is in fact not free. You’ll pay $19.95 month after a seven-day trial. The seven-day trial includes your TransUnion credit score, and for $1, you can get your full TransUnion report.
Your $19.95 monthly membership includes credit report and monitoring from TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
What other services does GoFreeCredit offer?
- Credit monitoring. Up to $1 million in ID theft insurance, with email alerts if something changes in your report.
- Credit report monitoring. Review your credit report for late or missed payments and settle any inaccuracies you find.
Is there a way to get my credit score for free?
Yes, you can find your credit score through most major credit card companies, and some lenders. Credit scores are located at the bottom of your monthly statements, and are free.Another way to get insight into your credit report is to request a free report from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. You are limited to request one free report from each bureau every year.
Pros and cons
Before signing up to get your credit score and report with GoFreeCredit, weigh its benefits against possible drawbacks.
Pros
- Reports from all three bureaus. Watching all three of your credit reports is helpful because not every lender reports to all three bureaus — many report to one or two.
- Credit monitoring and alerts. You get automatic email alerts from GoFreeCredit when your credit report changes, which is a good way to watch out for identity theft.
Cons
- Unclear how often your credit report is updated. GoFreeCredit does not commit to a specific update frequency for either credit reports or credit scores. Other providers claim to update reports every day or monthly.
- No guidelines for identity theft insurance. GoFreeCredit report offers $1 million in identity theft insurance, without providing information about what’s covered. You may find it difficult to successfully claim under this benefit if you’re a victim of identity theft.
- It’s not free. While the provider’s name indicates you’ll get free credit score, that’ll only get you access for seven days — it’s $1 for access to your credit report. After the seven-day trial, you’re automatically charged a monthly $19.95 subscription fee, unless you cancel.
- Poor online reviews. GoFreeCredit has many negative reviews online, with customers complaining of not getting their credit score once they signed up for the service, or that their info was shared.
How do I sign up with GoFreeCredit?
- Visit the GoFreeCredit site.
- Fill in your name, email and ZIP code on the homepage. Click Get Your Score.
- Complete your full personal details including your contact information, Social Security number and date of birth. Once you indicate that you’re not a robot, click Submit and Continue.
- Verify your identity by answering some security questions, and then click Submit & Continue.
- Create a username and password and provide billing information to pay for the monthly subscription. Then click View Score Now!
Compare GoFreeCredit with other credit score services
Is GoFreeCredit legit?
Maybe, though it doesn’t have the best reviews online. It’s not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, which gives it a B rating. As of June 2018, it has eight complaints filed against it, with most customers stating that they didn’t receive a free credit score and instead had their email address given out to solicitors.
Other online forums discuss issues with customers unable to cancel their subscription before the trial ended. Meanwhile, others were charged the subscription fee even when they had called and canceled the service. Furthermore, there’s no phone number listed on the website to contact customer service, which raised a red flag for us.
Customer service at GoFreeCredit
You can reach GoFreeCredit via email or by mail, but the provider does not list a phone number on its website.
- By email. Send a note to info@GoFreeCredit
- By mail. Send snail mail to:
GoFreeCredit
1700 E. Walnut Avenue
2nd Floor
El Segundo, CA 90245
How do I know that GoFreeCredit is right for me?
GoFreeCredit offers both a credit score and your full credit report, albeit at a monthly fee. The ongoing credit monitoring could be helpful in case of identity theft.
However, the lack of clarity on its site plus poor customer reviews raised some red flags for us, so consider comparing other services out there before subscribing to this one.
Bottom line
With its vague details, lack of a phone number on its site and multiple customer complaints, think twice before going with this service. While at $19.95 a month, it’s not the most expensive subscription service out there, it’s still not free.
Compare other credit report and monitoring services available to find the one that makes the most sense for your needs.
Want to know more about your credit score?
Images: GoFreeCredit