Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Credit Monitoring for the Kids

In the mail yesterday, we got letters from the insurance company addressed to each of the kids. After I opened them, I recognized them as letters that I got a few weeks ago that came to me and G-man. The insurance company was involved in a very large security breach and is offering free credit monitoring for 2 years.  I was aware of all of this.

But since the letters were addressed to the kids...it made me stop and think.  Maybe we should sign up for credit monitoring for the kids.

I am not savvy in the ways of the illegal.  I would have thought that if someone tried to open a credit card in the name of one of the kids, that the birthdate would kick it out of the system.  Maybe not.  Maybe you change the birthday?  No idea.

Obviously there is a way to use a name and SSN illegally.  But the kids have no need for credit, so I haven't thought about it.  But now that they are going on 13, it is only a few years away before we will be applying to college, having jobs, being more grown-up.  I don't want any surprises.

That would be horrible to find out that someone used their identity when they were young and that at 18 their credit is wrecked and we have to work to get it cleaned up....all through no fault of their own.

So G-man and will discuss it, but most likely we will sign them up for the monitoring.  Just in case.  I doubt we would carry it further than the 2 years that are available for free, but that is 2 years away....so who knows.

Anyone use a credit monitoring service?  Anyone use it for their kids?

5 comments:

  1. You can just get a free credit report for them at least once a year, so you won't have to get a service. I did it for my oldest. I'm not sure whether kids will have a credit report just because they have insurance. I got this letter, too, by the way.

    I think I read that fewer people are paying for credit monitoring service since it's starting to become available free through so many creditors. Kids don't have creditors, of course, but I'm sure you can get free reports for them once in a while.

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  2. You should be able to put a freeze on their credit as well. You can do this through any of the three major bureaus.

    I don't see a reason not to use the service though, if it is free. A lady I work with tried to file her taxes and they were rejected because her social had been used as a dependent on someones return already. I don't think credit monitoring would have prevented this, but may help prevent other things.

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  3. I would highly recommend geting a credit card with a max $500 or $250 limit for your kids at 13 or 14. My mom got me one because I went to a private high school and needed to have access to money for events and such. It helped establish my credit history at an early age and so my credit was much better than my husband's who only got his first card at 19. Plus it teaches children responsible ways to use money. For example, I learned very early on to never carry a balance and I had money discussions with my parents, whereas my husband never talked money with his parents and he didn't learn much about it until I made him see the error in his ways : )

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  4. I would not do this as they will have all your info and will later charge you for this service in a very sneaky way. This type of service can also be a con and the insurance company gets a huge kick back. Nothing is free.

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  5. Credit karma is free. Supported by ads and you get your complete report.

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