ID Monitor FAQ
What is ID Monitor?
ID Monitor (formerly Credit Hub) is a feature for your BeenVerified account, which empowers you to check, monitor, and analyze your identity and credit score. We’ve partnered with TransUnion® to access their suite of products and tools. Simply visit ID Monitor from your Dashboard, confirm your identity and utilize important identity, privacy, and credit security solutions.
Why does my credit score matter?
Your credit score helps lenders determine if you get a loan and the interest rate you pay. It also helps insurers set premiums for auto and home coverage. Landlords look at credit scores to decide who can get to rent their homes. Utilities providers use it when offering their best plans or to determine how much a deposit is needed. Your credit scores are an important financial tool, but its impact depends on how good a score you have.
You can leverage great scores into opportunities — on loans, credit cards, insurance premiums, apartments, even cell phone plans. A bad score could potentially hurt you to the extent that you may need to pay higher interest rates or premiums, or you may not even qualify.
What is VantageScore® 3.0 by TransUnion®?
VantageScore 3.0® is an alternative credit score model to FICO that is jointly developed by all three national Credit Reporting Companies. VantageScore 3.0® was released in 2013 and approximately 40 million Americans, who previously had no credit score, could now get one. While there is a 4.0 version, many lending institutions continue to rely on VantageScore 3.0® when analyzing consumer borrowing power.
VantageScore 3.0® credit scores range from 300 to 850 and it looks at your payment history, age and type of credit, credit utilization, balances, recent credit, and available credit to determine your score. The difference between FICO (currently at v8.0) and VantageScore 3.0® is FICO’s requirement of a minimum of six months of account data reported to a credit bureau. VantageScore 3.0® may provide people with a credit score using just one month of credit history.
Will my credit score change if I request a copy of my own credit report?
When you request a copy of your own credit report, you make a soft inquiry which is only noted in your file - it will not affect your actual credit score. However, when financial institutions like a credit card company or lending institution checks your credit report to make a lending decision, a hard inquiry is made, which could lower your score by a few points. These typically require your authorization. Other situations where hard inquiries are made include loan applications, mortgages, and most forms of loans.
What tools are available with ID Monitor?
Aside from your VantageScore® 3.0 by TransUnion®, our partnership also gives you important tools to keep an eye on your identity and credit health:
- $1M Identity Theft Insurance & Restoration: Recover certain out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages if your identity is stolen.
- Standard Identity and Credit Alerts: Near-real time alerts to prevent credit and identity fraud. Receive notifications when activity is detected by TransUnion.
- Enhanced Alerts: Additional credit and identity notifications related to activity on bank accounts and your credit report for greater peace of mind.
- Instant Inquiry Alerts: Instant alerts related to name or address changes, dark web or criminal activity in your name.
- Credit Analysis: Get score simulators with factor explanations and recommended actions.
- Credit Score History: Track your credit score history to help keep track of your credit health.
What is $1M Identity Theft Insurance & Restoration?
Identity theft is very emotional, costly, and time-consuming. Identity theft insurance guarantees that you recover certain out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages if your identity is stolen. You’ll be glad you have experience and expertise behind you if you ever fall victim to identity theft.
Complete identity theft restoration services from Certified Protection Experts available 24/7. Specialists don’t only assist with identity restoration: they can save you literally hundreds of hours by completing all the paperwork, making calls, and doing all the heavy lifting to make sure your identity is restored.
To opt in, simply enroll in ID Monitor and turn on $1M Identity Theft Insurance & Restoration services in the Identity & Credit Protection control panel.
How do I get help if my identity is stolen?
If you’re opted in to our $1M Identity Theft Insurance & Restoration services when your the victim of identity theft, please contact our partner specialist team at (833) 570-3005 and they will get started with your identity restoration needs.
What credit email alerts will I receive?
We are able to alert you on new inquiries from the TransUnion® credit bureau. We have three types of email plans to opt in for the email types below:
- New inquiries to TransUnion credit file
- New account opened
- Delinquent account
- Improved account from derogatory to current
- Account filed in bankruptcy
- New public record
- New address or employer added to TransUnion credit file
- Fraud alert on TransUnion credit report
- New user authorized to credit card
- Balance on bank or credit card exceeds limit
- Account is closed
- Bank or retail card reported stolen
- New auto lease opened
- Account status changed from delinquent to charged off
- Foreclosure reported
- Non-medical collection reported
- Increase or decrease in all collection types
- Collection or account is fully paid
- VantageScore® 3.0 increases or decreases by 10 points
Which credit bureaus do you monitor?
As with our credit score features and tools, we monitor and alert you with inquiries and activity on your TransUnion® credit report.
What do I do when I receive an alert about my credit?
BeenVerified is not a credit or identity resolution site and does not offer solutions towards resolving identity theft, credit fraud or resolution. Please contact the financial institution or lender for the account that is linked to the alleged fraud, or contact the credit bureaus directly, to reconcile false information connected to your identity or credit report. We’ve provided each credit bureaus’ contact information here .
What kind of information is in my credit report?
Credit reports contain information about you and your accounts, inquiries and public records. Regardless of the bureau, the following types of information are likely to appear on all of your credit reports:
- Full name and any other names you may have used in past credit applications including surnames prior to marriage and your name without your middle name, even nicknames
- Date of birth
- Current and previous addresses associated with your credit accounts
- Phone numbers associated with your credit accounts
- Social security number
- Current and past employers you’ve listed on credit applications
- Active and historical credit accounts from the past ten years, including revolving (credit cards) and installment accounts (mortgages and loans)
- Name of the creditor/lender
- Opening date and/or closure status, such as current or past due credit limit (for credit cards) or loan amount
- Account balances
- Payment history
- Utility accounts
- Inquiries (companies and date of requested credit report)
- Bankruptcies
- Liens
- Foreclosures
- Civil suits and judgments
How often should I check my credit report?
At minimum, you should check twice a year, but ideally: four times a year. If any of the below actions pertain to you, it would be good to check:
- Making a major purchase
- Applying for more credit
- Previous inaccuracies in credit report
- Improve your credit score
- Victim of identity theft.
How do I correct inaccurate information on my credit report?
If there is inaccurate information on your credit report, you will need to dispute the inaccurate information directly with the specific credit bureau. The credit bureaus have 30 days to investigate your dispute. Once the investigation is complete, the credit bureaus will follow up by letter with their findings. If there are any revisions, you will receive a copy of the revised report.
Can I get a free copy of my credit report?
By law under the FACT ACT you are entitled to one FREE credit report a year from each of the three credit bureaus. You can request your free report by mail or online at AnnualCreditReport.com.
How is the information I provide protected?
We implement industry-standard best practices for protecting member data. Security operations controls include a variety of security measures, tools, and encryption which ultimately prevent our teams from being able to access your data. As such, our information security program is aligned with CIS 18 and adheres to SSAE 18 Data Center, SOC 2 as well as an annual Independent Network and Application Penetration Test.
When accessing your credit data, our site requires you to confirm your identity and verify that you are indeed the account owner via email.
When should I lock my credit?
Use a credit lock as a preventive measure to protect your information or when your information has been compromised. It lets you quickly allow lenders access to your report and then immediately lock it again — if you’re planning to make a major purchase like a car or home.
What is dark web monitoring?
Dark web monitoring is a service, which regularly searches places on the dark web where information is traded and sold, looking for your information. Websites, chat rooms, and other forums known for trafficking stolen personal and financial information are examples of perpetrators.
How are BeenVerified and TransUnion® affiliated?
In September 2021, BeenVerified became a partner with TransUnion®. BeenVerified’s commitment to providing leading information services products to empower and protect our customers was a natural fit to combine with the power of TransUnion® to help us deliver our best product to you. By accessing TransUnion’s credit and identity resources, BeenVerified is able to deliver a product that provides important information through many sources.
How do I cancel/delete ID Monitor?
You can cancel your ID Monitor service and remove ID Monitor information from your account by completing this form. This will not cancel or delete your BeenVerified account.
