There are so many ways you can take keep an eye on your finances and protect yourself from fraud. You often hear that you should get your credit report once a year to make sure everything is fine. The problem is – to access your credit report online you have to pay for it. The good news is – you can get your consume disclosure (which is fairly similar) for free online easily. I’ll talk about:
- What a consumer disclosure is.
- What a credit report is
- How you can get your consumer disclosure for free from Transunion
What is a consumer disclosure?
If you get a copy of your consumer disclosure, it’ll contain all the information on your credit report. This includes important information like:
- Your credit card repayment history
- Any line of credit you have (or did have, and closed)
- Any mortgage you have (or did have, and paid off)
- Details about companies (such as credit card companies) that have asked for your credit file information. It also lists non-credit related inquiries (such as a background check).
What is a credit report?
A credit report is considered a “business version” of your consumer disclosure. It contains most of the same information that a consumer disclosure does, but also include your credit score. It does not contain any information about inquiries on your credit information.
How can I get my free consumer disclosure?
TransUnion will let you obtain a copy of your online consumer disclosure as frequently as once a month. To access it, follow these steps:
- Get together information such as your SIN number and latest banking and credit card activities.
- Go to the TransUnion Consumer Disclosure page, then select the online access option.
- Read the information about what your consumer disclosure may contain and how it can help you.
- Select to access your consumer disclosure.
- Enter the information necessary to access your consumer disclosure.
Once you have a copy, download it and review it. If you see any issues with it, there is an Investigation Request Form at the end of your consumer disclosure you can fill in.
The Takeaway
Getting a copy of your consumer disclosure is free and easy. It’s a great way to get a picture of how you’re doing at a glance. It’s also an incredibly important tool in fighting against fraud – it enables you to see quickly and easily if there’s financial activity going on in your name that you don’t recognize.
Have you ever gotten a consumer disclosure or credit report before and had a nasty surprise?
