Credit Building > How does ClearScore Protect Plus work?

How does ClearScore Protect Plus work?

ClearScore Protect Plus is an online identity protection service offered by ClearScore. It's a paid subscription that costs £4.99 and can be added to the usual free Credit Score account.

If you're a ClearScore Protect Plus customer, ClearScore will offer "round-the-clock identity protection". This means it will scan the so-called "dark web" daily for your information so you can avoid identity theft and take action against fraudsters as soon as possible.

Can identity theft affect my credit score?

Identity theft can affect your credit score in two ways: directly and indirectly.

The first way is when a criminal assumes your identity and takes money from your accounts. Losing a lot of money in one go can leave you unable to pay bills or debt, affecting your credit score.

The second way is when criminals steal your identity and build up debts in your name, such as getting credit cards or personal loans. While this results from fraud, you can be left responsible for the money owed until you can prove otherwise.

As you can imagine, this can significantly affect your credit score as these debts appear on your credit history. You might also find paying back these unexpected debts challenging, which might hurt your credit score even more.

How does ClearScore Protect Plus work?

These are some of the features that ClearScore Protect Plus offers:

• Daily dark web and deep web scanning. ClearScore will scan these infamous sources of leaked personal data and let you know if yours is in there. ClearScore will scan for any sign of your name, date of birth, addresses, phone numbers, National Insurance number, and up to three of your email addresses.
• Daily credit report checks. ClearScore will also monitor your Equifax report daily for any sign of fraud.
• Credit report protection: If you fall victim to fraud, ClearScore will pay for a protective registration with CIFAS, a fraud prevention service (usually £30). This makes it hard for someone else to use your identity again.
• And potentially the most useful one: identity loss insurance. If you fall victim to identity fraud, you can claim up to £2,500 for expenses and £5,000 for legal cover.

What's the difference between ClearScore Protect and ClearScore Protect Plus?

ClearScore Protect is a basic and free identity fraud protection service.

It runs only a basic scan every three months and only checks for one email address.

ClearScore Protect Plus, on the other hand, offers a much wider range of features that are meant to protect you.

These don’t come for free, however – unlike the regular Protect plan, ClearScore Protect Plus costs £4.99 a month (or £49.99 if you pay yearly).

Is ClearScore Protect Plus legit?

ClearScore Protect Plus seems to be a legitimate product.

ClearScore is a large company operating in the UK, South Africa, Australia and Canada, with over 20 million users worldwide.

In addition, insurance coverage is provided by Financial & Legal Insurance Company Ltd, a specialist insurance company founded in 1995. Financial & Legal is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.

What do ClearScore Protect Plus reviews say?

On Trustpilot, a leading review website, ClearScore has an "excellent" rating of 4.5 out of 5 from over 13,000 customers. While most reviews there focus on ClearScore's other products, a handful of reviews also discuss Protect Plus.

So far, Protect Plus customers seem happy with it – they often give examples of how this service helped them spot fraud early. Here is one such review:

"I was advised to sign up with Clear Score after my identity was used for fraud and someone had opened up a catalogue account to buy goods . It has been so useful, as after I thought I had dealt with one company ClearScore sent an email updating me that another account had been opened and I was able to close this one down much quicker. I advise everyone to constantly check their credit score as a way of watching out for identity theft."

Overall, ClearScore Protect Plus seems like a good way to protect your identity so that fraudsters don't damage your credit history.

You should not stop here if you're concerned about your credit rating.

Some other tools that you can use to improve your credit score are:

• Experian Boost: it can connect to your bank account and make your Netflix, Amazon Prime, Council Tax, and even ISA investments count towards your credit score.
• Wollit: it can report your monthly subscription to all credit reference agencies and even count your rent payments toward your credit history.

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