Why is my frozen credit report blocking a scan?
A credit freeze stops anyone — including CreditRefresh — from pulling your report. If your scan fails or your bureau connection won't complete, a freeze or lock is the most common cause. You'll need to temporarily thaw (lift) the freeze at the affected bureau, run your scan, then re-freeze. Each bureau is frozen separately, so you may need to lift all three.
What a freeze does to a report pull
A credit freeze (also called a security freeze) blocks access to your credit report. That's its job — it stops lenders, and anyone else, from pulling your file without your permission. The catch is that it also blocks CreditRefresh from pulling the report it needs to scan. If your scan fails or your bureau connection won't finish, a freeze is the most common reason.
Freeze vs. lock — both block access
A freeze and a credit lock do roughly the same thing from a scanning standpoint: both prevent your report from being pulled. A freeze is governed by federal law and is always free; a lock is a bureau product that may be bundled with paid monitoring. Either one will stop a scan until it's lifted.
How to temporarily lift a freeze
You don't have to remove the freeze permanently. Each bureau lets you "thaw" — lift it temporarily — and then re-apply it later. Because each bureau is frozen separately, you may need to lift all three:
- Equifax — through your myEquifax account or by phone.
- Experian — through your Experian account or by phone.
- TransUnion — through your TransUnion account or by phone.
When you thaw, you can usually set a date range or lift it until you re-freeze. Lift it, run your CreditRefresh scan, then put the freeze back.
Re-freezing after your scan
Once your scan completes and your report is pulled, you can re-freeze at each bureau the same way you lifted it. Re-freezing is free and instant online. There's no downside to keeping a freeze on between scans — just remember you'll need to thaw again before the next pull.
If it still won't connect
If you've lifted the freeze at all three bureaus and the connection still fails, the cause is usually something else: a mistyped detail during identity verification, a recent address change the bureau hasn't reconciled, or a temporary bureau outage. Double-check your identity details and try again. If it keeps failing, reach out to support and we'll help you track down which bureau is blocking the pull.