Big businesses are talking about you behind your back. They want to know if you’re creditworthy.

If they think you’re a bad risk, they won’t give you a loan without making you pay higher rates or finding a co-signer. And they’ll ask for a deposit when you sign up for telephone or utility services.

You need to know what potential credit granters are saying about you. Is it based on fact or rumour?

So, how do you eavesdrop on these conversations?

You can ask for a copy of the credit history kept on file about you by Canada’s two major credit reporting agencies, Equifax and Transunion.

Under Ontario’s consumer reporting act, you have the right to see your own credit information without charge when you make a written request and provide the right identification.

In my column last Sunday (Sept. 5), I said you can get free access to your credit report – but not to your credit score, a newer bit of information that’s not mentioned in Ontario’s consumer reporting act.

Many readers responded that Equifax and TransUnion were charging for credit reports.

No way, I said. Then, I checked their websites and found that both agencies were pitching online access to your credit report for $15.

Your legal right to a free credit report should be front and centre. Instead, it’s buried under a sales pitch.

It’s better in the United States, where you can order free credit reports from a central source, www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also get free access to your credit report online, unlike in Canada.

You’re entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of three consumer reporting companies – Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

(Experian, based in Allan, Tex., started a Canadian operation. But the financial downturn forced it to close in April 2009.)

I think consumers are better served with free access to credit reports through a single website.

Why are Canadian credit bureaus downplaying the free credit reports?

Tom Reid, director of consumer solutions at TransUnion, sent me down to the very bottom of the home page where it said in tiny type, “Find out how to qualify for a free copy of your consumer disclosure.”

Equifax uses equally tiny type on the far right side of its home page to say you can receive a free credit file disclosure via Canada Post.

Here’s the information you need without having to search for it yourself:

TransUnion: To order a credit report by phone, call 1-800-663-9980.

The request form can be found at: www.transunion.ca/docs/personal/Consumer_Disclosure_Request_Form_en.pdf

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Send your form to Consumer Relations Centre, PO Box 338 LCDI, Hamilton, Ont. L8L 7W2.

Equifax: To order a credit report by phone, call 1-800-465-7166.

The request form can be found at: www.equifax.com/ecm/canada/EFXCreditReportRequestForm.pdf

Send your form to National Consumer Relations, PO Box 190, Station Jean-Talon, Montreal, Quebec H1S 2Z2. Or fax it to 514-355-8502.

Keep in mind that to confirm your identity, you’ll have to give photocopies of two pieces of identification (both sides). And each credit bureau has its own rules for acceptable ID.

If you prefer to visit, you can go to TransUnion’s office at 709 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ont. L8S 1A2.

The Equifax office is at 5650 Yonge St., Toronto, Ont. M2M 4G4 (concourse level, near the food court, corner of Finch Ave.)

If you haven’t checked your free credit report, you should get started ASAP.

You don’t want to wait until taking out a mortgage or doing a business deal to find out your credit record is flawed and errors need to be corrected.

It’s your legal right to know what credit reporting agencies have on file about you.

And if you don’t exercise that right, you won’t learn about factual mistakes that can make credit more expensive.

Ellen Roseman writes about personal finance and consumer issues. You can reach her at eroseman@thestar.ca, 416-945-8687 or ellenroseman.com