In most cases, you can pull free copies of these reports periodically, which is good because errors can pop up in these reports just like they can in a consumer credit history. But who has time to pull and monitor that many databases of personal information? The website PrivacyRights.org suggests you stick with yearly monitoring of your consumer credit report (the one you can get for free only at www.annualcreditreport.com), and pay attention to the other ones only under certain circumstances:
There is one time when you may want to go crazy and order everything, and that's if you've been a victim of identity theft.
(Thanks to commenter mac-phisto, whose advice in an earlier post on auto insurance triggered this one.)
"Big Brother is watching" [Consumer Reports]
"What You Should Know about 'Specialty' Reports" [Privacy Rights Clearinghouse]
(Photo: Erik Pitti)
@The Dude:
Jeez, I could of sworn that the problem was the total lack of "Government oversight" of the banks?
I guess the actual culprit was all of those SEC regulators overseeing the creation of "bucket shop" style derivatives, who must have gotten in the way of all the freedom-loving entrepeneurs on Wall Street. Otherwise they would have created a Randian market utopia and we would have been able to live happily ever after...
]]>@Buffet:
Well, I'm here to tell you, there's not a lot of "peace and contentement" to be had when someone steals your identity. (Guess how I know.)
]]>I don't concern myself with any of that rubbish. It doesn't define me. Seems as though everyone is just a bit too worried what everyone else thinks of them. I'll take peace and contentment over paranoia any 'ol day.
]]>As a side note, FIS owns Clear Commerce/Certegy, ElecCheck (a Certegy product) and Chex Systems now...I think this only other major paper check reporting service out there is Telecheck, which I believe is still owned by FirstData.
]]>Two options for you.
1. I created a webpage that lists some of these.
2. Check out this Privacy Rights Clearinghouse article.
]]>@shepd: But upon further reflection, it's good that we keep fighting to keep database creep at bay, lest we become worse than them. !
]]>@shepd: Well, that stuff may never "go away", but as long as they don't take adverse action based on that information, you're ok.
Lucky that we both live in Kitchener, and not in the U.S. of Database Ridiculousness, eh? It's nice to be able to rent apartments here without the landlord even checking your credit, in my latest incidence. And raising your auto insurance rates here due to bad credit is illegal here, like it should be.
]]>Grrr... CLUE can't verify my identity and can't tell me why. They suggest I contact the credit bureaus, awesome.
]]>"There was a claim paid on your roof" according to our listing agent.
Uh, no. We had our insurance company come out when damage was done but the amount they were offering (a few hundred dollars) was so small (on a job that ended up costing us several thousand) that we said it wasn't worth it coming up on our claims history.
I challenged our insurance company- at first they were rather indignant that they would ever, ever make a mistake but a day later, they apologised and corrected the information that they sent out.
]]>(Actually, I'm really curious to see if my criminal report is still available.)
]]>@steveliv: If any information of a CLUE report affects you in any way the Insurance company must tell you.
Plus if you have an agent that writes you a policy without mentioning he found activity on a clue report then you need to find a new agent QUICKLY!
]]>Well, decided to write the ombudsman instead after that, and it turns out nothing on auto insurance ever expires, some people have stuff on them 50+ years old.
Seems like it's time to start writing my MPP. This would make some nice easy private members bill, especially since the insurance industry has such a black eye in Ontario right now...
]]>How'd a canadian get on the American internet?
]]>Don't forget these jokers if you somehow still need to use paper checks for payment:
Certegy Check/Cheque Services
[www.fidelityinfoservices.com]
Search "certegy" and you will find all numbers of people who have dealt with them in regards to refused checks. We were refused to use a paper check at PepBoys Auto for the purchase of 4 new tires, mounted and balanced- a local address check on a regional bank. We qualified to get a Certegy account report but it was a pain in the neck so I gave up getting one.
]]>This is an area that seems ripe for a regulatory overhaul and consolidation. Since these are all financial servies related products, why not put them under a single office and then make it easier to pull your reports and make corrections. annualcreditreport is a good start, but it would be nice to be able to go to a single site to request reports and request corrections, that can span across the reports and providers. If you don't want a government run program, that's fine, but at least some sort of consolidated clearninghouse.
]]>Next year, a few months before the time of renewal, I'll be writing a more official letter and getting the FSCO (The gov't dept in my province that deal with auto insurance) to help me out.
For those in Canada, you can get your auto insurance record from CGI. It is called an Auto Plus report.
]]>