What does a credit freeze entail?

Since the Equifax debacle, I've read that many are placing a "credit freeze" on their info but I don't understand exactly what that means. I placed one on our oldest son a year or more before Equifax killed our confidence simply because he's in college and I didn't want his credit stolen / ruined. But honestly, I'm a bit confused at to how a freeze works for people with credit. Does it just mean it prevents others from getting credit cards and mortgages in your name? Does it disable you from opening a new line of credit? Kind of unclear to me. 

I believe it prevents anyone, yourself included, from opening credit, unless of course they don't run your credit when opening the loan (rare, but technically not impossible).  If you need to get open a new bank account, or get a car loan, then you would need to call and lift the freeze

Discover Card has this notification function (free) that alerts you by text and email if anybody runs your SSN for any reason. I'm hoping the others will offer it for free, if they're not already. 

A credit freeze can adversely affect you when you try to get new insurance, such as car or homeowner. With some insurers the lowest rates offered are to those with the best credit rating. If they can't retrieve your credit report you will be offered at higher rate.

When you're looking for insurance ask if they check your credit. If they do it would be wise to do a temporary unfreeze.

Also, some service providers, like cable TV companies, won't let you sign up if they cannot check your credit.

a credit freeze (or security freeze) does not "freeze" your credit report and does not prevent someone from accessing your credit records.

It does not affect your ability to get a loan.

A freeze just means that the credit agency needs to go through additional steps to insure that the loan applicant is who they say they are. It's to prevent or cut down on identity theft. Part of this scheme is to use a pin to protect your credit record. When you're applying for a loan, Equifax (or whoever) will contact you to supply the pin to open up your report. They don't like to do this of course, because they're soulless moth**f*****s.

much more detail at the link

drummerboy said:

a credit freeze (or security freeze) does not "freeze" your credit report and does not prevent someone from accessing your credit records.

It does prevent someone new, someone who you do not currently have a credit relationship from retrieving it. That is, until, you unfreeze it. 

When I applied for insurance to a different company the rep told me that she couldn't get the credit report, but don't worry we'll offer you the insurance anyway (at some default non-preferred rate).

I tried to get a Spectrum deal for my mother whose credit is frozen. After 10 minutes dealing with them by trying for the best possible package they applied the request to their computer which then returned "no deal". Sorry, credit is not available. Call us back when it is.

I agree with @drummerboy - this is news to me that major companies could not access info on you - but also wish to further @BG9's discussion, hence my confusion. I own a home, have vehicles and am not looking into purchasing new insurance nor am I looking into getting additional credit. So knowing this, wouldn't the freeze be beneficial because I'm simply wanting to block others who don't have these things from using mine, or my son's or husband's credit info and SSN?

BG9 said:

drummerboy said:

a credit freeze (or security freeze) does not "freeze" your credit report and does not prevent someone from accessing your credit records.

It does prevent someone new, someone who you do not currently have a credit relationship from retrieving it. That is, until, you unfreeze it. 

When I applied for insurance to a different company the rep told me that she couldn't get the credit report, but don't worry we'll offer you the insurance anyway (at some default non-preferred rate).

I tried to get a Spectrum deal for my mother whose credit is frozen. After 10 minutes dealing with them by trying for the best possible package they applied the request to their computer which then returned "no deal". Sorry, credit is not available. Call us back when it is.

kibbegirl said:

I agree with @drummerboy - this is news to me that major companies could not access info on you - but also wish to further @BG9's discussion, hence my confusion. I own a home, have vehicles and am not looking into purchasing new insurance nor am I looking into getting additional credit. So knowing this, wouldn't the freeze be beneficial because I'm simply wanting to block others who don't have these things from using mine, or my son's or husband's credit info and SSN?

BG9 said:

drummerboy said:

a credit freeze (or security freeze) does not "freeze" your credit report and does not prevent someone from accessing your credit records.

It does prevent someone new, someone who you do not currently have a credit relationship from retrieving it. That is, until, you unfreeze it. 

When I applied for insurance to a different company the rep told me that she couldn't get the credit report, but don't worry we'll offer you the insurance anyway (at some default non-preferred rate).

I tried to get a Spectrum deal for my mother whose credit is frozen. After 10 minutes dealing with them by trying for the best possible package they applied the request to their computer which then returned "no deal". Sorry, credit is not available. Call us back when it is.

That's what I wrote.

It blocks others but not companies you currently have a relationship with. For example, if you have an American Express account they can and will query your credit periodically even if you apply a security freeze. But if you don't have an account then if you apply they can't access it unless you unfreeze your account.

That makes sense I guess. They're assuming that with existing relationships, you are who you say you are and identity theft is not an issue.

It only comes into play when you're doing something new, like applying for a loan with a new financier.

I have to say though that the U.S.'s obsession with credit ratings is not very healthy.

drummerboy said:

I have to say though that the U.S.'s obsession with credit ratings is not very healthy.

I think this "obsession" is driven by the corporations, capitalism at its best or is it worst?

Credit ratings don't exist to serve consumers. They exist to serve banks, loan originators, the insurance industry and service companies who want to minimize their risk.

For consumers credit ratings are like report cards. You do good, you get a high rating and get rewarded with preferential rates. You make mistakes your rating goes down and unlike report cards everyone will be informed as such.

So what choice does a consumer have? Just about everything is driven on credit. Even arranging something simple as a stay in a decent hotel can be unpleasant if you don't have a credit card. 

This is the link to find out whether your information was stolen from Equifax (mine was.) 

If your information was stolen, you are then given the opportunity to have your credit monitored free for one year.

https://trustedidpremier.com/eligibility/eligibility.html 

cramer said:

This is the link to find out whether your information was stolen from Equifax (mine was.) 

If your information was stolen, you are then given the opportunity to have your credit monitored free for one year.

https://trustedidpremier.com/eligibility/eligibility.html 

This is not the link I've seen elsewhere.

ETA: This is the link I've seen elsewhere.

https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/

ridski said:

cramer said:

This is the link to find out whether your information was stolen from Equifax (mine was.) 

If your information was stolen, you are then given the opportunity to have your credit monitored free for one year.

https://trustedidpremier.com/eligibility/eligibility.html 

This is not the link I've seen elsewhere.

ETA: This is the link I've seen elsewhere.

https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/

I used your link. That link then takes you to the link that I used above. I was just using a shortcut. At the top of your link: 

"To enroll in complimentary identity theft protection and credit file monitoring, click here."

So you have credit monitoring. Will that prevent someone from initiating a loan in your name, like a credit freeze? Or does it only tell you that someone initiated a loan in your name? Does the monitoring include fraud alert?

If it only tells you someone started a loan, then its too late. Your identity has been stolen and used.

What can be then done? Obviously, tell the loan originator its not me. Who will respond "prove its not you". Meanwhile, we expect you to pay YOUR loan.

Often it takes YEARS to clear up identity theft issues.

A freeze generally stops all access to your credit report, while a fraud alert permits creditors to get your report as long as they take steps to verify your identity.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0279-extended-fraud-alerts-and-credit-freezes

I used the link to find out whether my information had been stolen. I already had credit freezes, but opted for the credit monitoring anyway. Belt and suspenders and all that.