Keeping your personal information safe can feel like a futile battle. Even if you do everything right, a data breach could leak your information, and in turn allow criminals to buy it on the dark web and use it to commit fraud. A credit freeze is one of the few things you can do to make using your personal information more difficult.
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What does it mean to freeze your credit?
Adding a security freeze to your credit report, also called freezing your credit, limits who can access your credit report. It can be an easy and free way to protect yourself from certain types of identity fraud.
For example, creditors often request your credit report — and a credit score — when evaluating a credit application. When your credit report is frozen, the credit bureau won’t release your report and the application could be automatically denied.
It can be frustrating if you’re applying for a new credit card or loan and forget to unfreeze, or “thaw”, your reports. You might have to unfreeze your reports and then fill out and resubmit the application. But the security freeze can also stop other people from opening accounts in your name.
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Freezing your credit report doesn’t completely lock it down
Although the credit bureaus won’t release frozen credit reports to new creditors during an application, they can still share your credit reports with certain people and organizations.
These include:
- Your current creditors.
- Landlords and leasing companies.
- Debt collection agencies.
- Insurance companies.
- Government agencies.
Companies may also be able to request your credit reports for employment purposes or to send you preapproved credit offers. And you can still check your own credit reports while they’re frozen.
How to freeze your credit and what you’ll need
You’ll have to add a security freeze to your credit reports at each of the credit bureaus one by one, and you can do this online, by phone or by mail.
- Equifax: Add a security freeze online, call 888-298-0045 or mail a form.
- Experian: Add a security freeze online, call 888-397-3742 or mail a form.
- TransUnion: Add a security freeze online, call 800-916-8800 or mail a form.
The exact steps will vary slightly depending on the credit bureau, but you may need to create an online account with each bureau to request and manage your freezes online.
You may also need to verify your identity when creating an account or calling, which could involve answering questions about yourself — such as whether you lived at a certain address in the past or when you opened a particular credit account.
When submitting the request by mail, you may need to send copies — don’t send the originals — of documents to verify your identity and address, such as a government-issued ID and a utility bill. You’ll also need to share identifying information, such as your name, Social Security Number and recent address history.
After requesting a freeze online or by phone, the credit bureau must add the freeze within one business day. However, it often happens much faster — sometimes instantly. When you mail the request, the credit bureau has up to three business days from when it receives your letter to freeze your report.
How to freeze a child or incapacitated adult’s credit report
You may also be able to freeze a child’s credit report if they’re under 16 years old and you’re their parent or guardian. You might have to mail the freeze request along with proof of their identity, your identity and proof of authority — such as a birth certificate verifying that you’re a parent or a valid power of attorney.
Many children don’t have credit reports, and the credit bureau will create and then freeze a report using the child’s information. It might seem like an odd step to take, but freezing a child’s credit report can help protect them from child identity theft. Some fraudsters even intentionally target children because they know that it’s unlikely anyone will try to check the child’s credit for years.
You can use a similar process to freeze the credit reports of an incapacitated adult. Additionally, you may be able to freeze your spouse’s credit reports, and this might be possible over the phone if you can pass the authentication test.
Pros and cons to freezing your credit
Consider the pros and cons before adding a security freeze to your credit reports.
Pros
- Freezing your credit reports can help keep someone else from using your personal information to open new credit accounts.
- Freezing your credit doesn’t affect your credit scores or ability to check your credit.
- You can freeze and unfreeze your reports at any time for free.
- You can easily manage credit freezes online.
Cons
- You need to remember to unfreeze your reports before applying for new credit accounts.
- You’ll have to manage each of your credit report freezes separately.
- A security freeze doesn’t completely block access to your credit reports — but neither does anything else.
How to unfreeze your credit
Once you freeze your credit reports, you’ll need to unfreeze them before you apply for a new credit account. You can use the same options — online, phone or by mail — and the same timelines apply.
You can also request a temporary thaw rather than unfreezing your reports completely. With a temporary thaw, the bureaus will lift the freeze for a specific period that you choose, such as the day, and then automatically refreeze your credit reports again at the end.
Consider freezing other consumer reports as well
Freezing your credit reports with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion can be a free and easy way to help protect yourself from an identity thief applying for credit in your name. Additionally, there are other consumer reporting companies that maintain information about you and may offer security freezes.
Some of these organizations’ consumer reports are used similar to how credit reports are used. For example, a bank or credit union might review your ChexSystems report when you try to open a new account. And if you freeze that report, you could stop someone from opening a bank or credit union account in your name.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) updates its list of consumer reporting companies each year with current contact information and details. You can review the list to see whether the company will freeze your report and how to request a freeze. However, unlike with the big three credit bureaus, freezing and unfreezing these reports isn’t necessarily free.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Freezing your credit reports won’t affect your credit scores at all. You can still review and monitor your credit reports and check your scores whenever you want. Your current creditors can also request your credit reports and scores.
You’ll need to submit separate requests with each bureau if you want to freeze your credit reports at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can make the request online, by phone or by mail. Similarly, you’ll need to submit separate requests when you want to unfreeze your credit reports.
Freezing your credit can be a good idea if you’re worried about someone opening a new credit account in your name. And it’s free, quick and relatively easy to manage online. Alternatively, or additionally, you can add a fraud alert to your credit reports, which tells creditors to verify your identity before approving a new credit application. Unlike security freezes, you only need to request the fraud alert from one credit bureau, and it will pass on the request to the other two.
A credit freeze and credit lock do the same thing once they’re in place — limit who can access your credit report. The difference is that a credit freeze is something you can request for free online, by phone or by mail. A credit lock is a feature within a subscription service that the credit bureau offers, and there’s often a fee for the service.
¹$1,000,000 Identity Theft Insurance for Eligible Losses: Identity Theft Insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group‚ Inc.. The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.
No one can prevent all identity theft or monitor all transactions effectively.
