CreditCheckTotal® FAQ

CreditCheckTotal Membership

What’s included in my CreditCheckTotalSM membership?
As a CreditCheckTotal member, you enjoy the following benefits:

  • Monthly access to 3-Bureau Reports and 3 FICO scores
  • Daily access to your Experian® Credit Report
  • Daily 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring and Alerts
  • Score Monitoring and Alerts
  • Experian CreditLock with Alerts
  • Identity Protection and Alerts
  • Fraud Resolution Support
  • Lost Wallet Assistance
  • Up to $1 Million Identity Theft Insurance

How much does a CreditCheckTotal membership cost?
Your membership price will be charged to your credit card monthly and can be found in the IMPORTANT INFORMATION section of the CreditCheckTotal Home Page, as well as in the PAYMENT INFORMATION before you submit your secure order. We will send you an email confirmation reflecting your membership price for your initial order and any additional add-on product(s) you opt to purchase. You may cancel at any time; however, you will not be eligible for a refund of your membership fees.

How do I cancel my membership?
To cancel, please contact Customer Care at 1-877-284-7942.

Ordering and Billing

Will ordering my credit report hurt my score?
No. Pulling your own credit report is referred to as a "soft inquiry". Soft inquiries don’t impact your credit and don't appear on your credit report.

A "hard inquiry" appears on your credit report when a company reviews your credit as part of an application. Having too many hard inquiries could suggest that you’re overextending yourself and therefore, could potentially lower your score.

Is this transaction safe?
Yes. The process of sending and receiving your information is encrypted using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. This technology helps ensure that your credit card and other sensitive information are protected.

What do you do with my private information?
We take privacy and security very seriously. The information that you provide during the order process is used to verify your identity and remains in our system. Your credit report and score are stored in our system to be viewed by you on the website. Under no circumstances will we use, resell, or provide your credit information to any third-party marketers. If you call one of our Customer Care Representatives, they do not see your credit report unless you give them specific permission to do so. Please see our Privacy Policy for full details about how we protect the information you submit to us.

Do I have to pay a sales tax when ordering my credit report?
That depends on the state in which you reside. Certain orders may be subject to sales tax based on specific laws in your state of residence. A Sales tax may be included on membership orders and any additional reports and scores that you purchase, such as your 3-Bureau Report and FICO® Scores.

The address you provided during the order process is used to determine whether a sales tax applies to your order(s), and if so, at what rate. Since sales tax rates may change over time, you may notice minor fluctuations in the membership fee.

Can I get my credit report by mail?
Unfortunately, we cannot provide credit reports by mail at this time.

I don't have a credit card. Can I still purchase an online credit report?
Currently, we only accept credit card payments. Unfortunately, our system is not set up to accept checks or cash at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Can I order someone else's credit report?
No. It's a federal crime to obtain a copy of someone's credit report without their permission and is punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.

Credit Reports

What is a credit report?
A credit report is a snapshot of your experience with credit-related accounts. Aside from some basic personal information, such as your name and address to help identify your report, there are three main types of information on your credit report:

  • Public Records:
    Court-related information, including bankruptcies, state and county court records, tax liens, monetary judgments, and in some states, overdue child-support payments.
  • Credit Inquiries:
    Names of businesses or individuals that have obtained a copy of your credit report, including lenders, landlords and employers.
  • Accounts:
    Payment history on all your Real Estate, Installment, and Revolving Credit Accounts.

Which Credit Bureau's report do you provide?
Your CreditCheckTotal membership provides you with access to your Experian, Equifax® and TransUnion® Credit Reports and FICO® Scores.

How do I refresh my Credit Report?
As a CreditCheckTotal member, every time you sign in, your Experian Credit Report is automatically updated. No need to do anything. And best of all, this member exclusive feature is available to all CreditCheckTotal members at no additional charge.

What should I do if there's a mistake on my credit report?
If you see something that is incorrect on your credit report and want it corrected, you have two options available to you. You can either contact the company reporting the incorrect information or you can file a dispute with the applicable credit bureau.

What should I do if there's something on my credit report that is hurting my FICO® Score?
While we do offer a great deal of credit-related education throughout the website, we are unable to provide any direct advice on how to improve credit or scores.

In 1996, Congress passed the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) that prohibits many organizations from offering "credit advice".

Learn more

Why isn’t the information on my 3-Bureau Report consistent across all three bureaus?
The three national credit bureaus do not share information with each other, so if a creditor only sends information to one or two of the bureaus, or only pulls an inquiry from one bureau, then the information won't appear on all three reports.

The three bureaus also have different formats for the way they collect and store data, so sometimes information for the same account may appear differently from one credit report to another. This is why FICO® Scores are sometimes different from one bureau to the next.

Will my spouse's name and information appear on my report?
There is no such thing as a "joint" credit report. Every credit report is specific to the individual. However, if you and your spouse are listed on an account (as co-owners of the account or as authorized users), that account will appear on both of your credit reports.

How do I get my free Annual Credit Report?
Federal law allows you to get one free credit report from each of the three national credit reporting companies (the Experian® Bureau, Equifax®, and TransUnion®) once every 12 months through a central source. The credit reports available for purchase or otherwise offered by Experian Consumer Services differ from the credit reports available from the three national credit reporting companies. To request a free copy of your credit report from one of the nationwide credit reporting companies, as required by federal law, you can go to www.annualcreditreport.com, call 877-322-8228, or download and complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

Experian Consumer Services is an affiliate of the Experian Credit Bureau. Our products and services, which may include a credit report from any of the three national credit reporting companies, are not related to the free credit report provided by each of the national credit reporting companies.

FICO® Scores

What is a FICO® Score?
A FICO® Score is a number based on the positive and negative information in your credit report(s). Paying your bills on time and using your credit responsibly can build a positive history, while paying bills late and being irresponsible with your credit can build a negative history.

CreditCheckTotal uses the FICO® Score 8 model to generate scores.

How often do you update my FICO® Score(s)?
You receive your first 3-Bureau Credit Report and FICO Scores powered by Experian when you sign up for your CreditCheckTotal membership. After that, you can access your up-to-date 3-Bureau Credit Report and FICO Scores once a month. Additionally, you will have access to your Experian Credit Report and FICO Score daily upon login. You do have the option of receiving FICO® Score alerts if, or when your score changes prior to receiving your two monthly updates.

How long is my Score available for viewing?
Your Score is available until the next time it’s updated.

Why is my FICO® Score different from previous credit scores obtained elsewhere?
It’s virtually impossible for credit score sources to provide identical score information for a few reasons—lenders use their own customized calculations; the three national credit bureaus offer different calculations; and there are multiple "FICO®" Score calculations.

Why is my FICO® Score different from each of the three bureaus?
The three national credit bureaus do not share information with one another. This means if a creditor only sends information to one or two of the credit bureaus, or only pulls an inquiry from one bureau, the activity won't appear on all three bureaus. The three bureaus also have different formats for the way they collect and store data, so information for the same account may appear differently from one credit report to another. This is why FICO® Scores are sometimes different from one bureau to the next.y.

I purchased a 3-Bureau Report & Scores, but I don’t see my scores.
We’re sorry you didn’t receive your scores. If your scores weren’t generated, we may not have had enough credit information from your 3-Bureau Credit Report to generate FICO® Scores.

In order for a new FICO® Score to be calculated:

  • Your credit report must contain at least one account that has been open for 6 months.
  • Your credit report must contain at least one account that has been reported to the credit bureau within the past 6 months.
  • A creditor/lender must not currently have you reported as being deceased.
Unfortunately, if your 3-Bureau Credit Report doesn’t meet these minimum requirements, we won’t be able to generate FICO® Scores for you.

For additional information about your credit score, please contact Customer Care at 1-877-284-7942.

What can I do to get my FICO® Score?
Since your FICO® Score could not be generated at this time, we recommend:

  1. Checking your Credit Report to ensure all the information reported to the bureau(s) is correct.
  2. Finding out why your FICO® Score is not available and what you can do to get it.
  3. Calling Customer Care if you have additional questions at 1-877-284-7942.
Meanwhile, we will continue to monitor your credit report and alert you to key changes, including when your FICO® Score powered by Experian is available.

How can I improve my FICO® Score(s)?
While we offer a great deal of credit education on our website, we are unable to provide direct advice on how to improve credit or scores.

In 1996, Congress passed the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) that prohibits many organizations from offering "credit advice".

>>Learn More

Troubleshooting

I forgot my Username and Password
Please click here to reset your username and password online. To verify your identity, we will ask you a few questions based on information you provided when you established your membership. After you’ve verified your identity, you will be able to reset your information.

You can call us at 1-877-284-7942, if you need additional assistance.

I tried to order my credit report and FICO® Score, but I got an error message saying I would receive a letter in the mail with an access code. What does this mean?
We take your privacy and security seriously. If you received an error message, it’s because we weren't absolutely certain you are who you say you are. As a way of validating your identity, we send a letter to the address on your credit report with an access code.

When you receive the letter, simply sign in to the website and provide that code to access your report.

If you no longer live at the address to where we sent the letter, your information is still secure. The person living at your old address would need to know the username and password you created to log into the website.

You can also call us at 1-877-284-7942 and we'll try to validate your identity over the phone.

My order didn't go through. What happened?
We're sorry you were unable to complete the order process. Most orders process in just a few seconds, but for various reasons, some orders aren’t completed right away. There are two possible reasons why your order didn’t process:

  • We are unable to confirm your identity. We take your security and privacy seriously, and need to verify your identity before we can present any sensitive information.
  • The credit bureau doesn't have a complete report for you. This can happen for younger people still establishing credit; people who don't use credit very often; or people who’ve spent years out of the country.
If you need assistance with placing your order, please call our Customer Care Team at 1-877-284-7942.