Freezing Your Child's Credit Might Be a Smart Move to Protect Their Future

It’s hard to imagine that a 10-year-old would take out a car loan or apply for a credit card. But identity thieves could steal your child’s personal information and attempt to borrow money. You wouldn’t know that your child’s identity had been stolen until they're old enough to apply for their own loan and are denied for a bad credit history.

You can block fraudsters from using your child’s Social Security number (SSN) and other personal information by freezing their credit file. Keep reading for all the details.

Freezing your child’s credit report is probably a smart thing to do. It’s a relatively straightforward process, doesn’t cost anything, and won’t affect their credit score.

Without freezing your child’s credit report, thieves who get a hold of the child’s SSN can use it to create fake identities with which they can take out loans and credit cards they never plan to repay. So, your child’s credit can be destroyed before they even apply for their own credit card or loan when they turn 18.

All three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — provide tools to enable you to freeze the credit files of a child aged 15 or younger. Your child can choose to lift the credit freeze when they turn 16. Children aged 16 and 17 can request their own credit freeze.

You usually have to provide a written request to the credit bureaus to place a freeze on your child’s credit. You’ll also have to provide documentation, including:

• Proof that you have the authority to act on the child’s behalf

• Proof confirming your identity and the child’s identity. This can be a Social Security card, a copy of a birth certificate, or a copy of a driver’s license.

It typically takes about three to five business days for a credit report freeze to go into effect. You should freeze your child’s credit with all three credit bureaus to ensure that your child’s identity is fully protected.

Once your child’s credit file is frozen, banks and other lending institutions can’t access their credit history. A lender isn’t going to give money if they can’t access the borrower’s credit, so the fraudster is blocked from taking out loans or credit cards with your child’s information.

There aren’t many downsides to freezing your child’s credit. Getting the necessary paperwork together may be a hassle, but once it’s done, you can rest easy knowing your child's credit is protected.

However, a credit freeze doesn’t protect from thieves stealing your child’s SSN and using it for other purposes that don’t require a credit report. Therefore, you should still take precautions to help prevent that information from getting into the wrong hands.

If you’re getting pre-approved credit card offers addressed to a minor child in your home, there’s a good chance their identity has been stolen. You can check with the credit bureaus to see if a credit file exists in your child’s name. There shouldn’t be one. If there is, someone used your child’s information to apply for credit.