TRW to Offer Toll-Free Way to Check Credit : Consumers: Under fire for allegedly leaving errors in individuals’ records, the firm will begin an 800 phone number to call up a person’s own record.

TRW Inc., which has been sued for allegedly failing to fix errors in individuals’ credit records, said Monday that consumers now will be able to gain access to their credit records by calling a toll-free 800 number starting in October.

The company, which was served with lawsuits by California and five other states last week, said the toll-free number was part of an ongoing program to improve its services. But consumer advocates greeted the announcement with skepticism.

“This seems like a PR play,” said Jeffrey Francis, consumer program director for CALPIRG, a nonprofit organization that has studied consumer complaints about credit bureaus.

Until the new program starts in October, consumers who want information on their own credit ratings have to seek out the TRW office closest to them and pay telephone toll charges to get information on where to write to obtain their credit records.

TRW spokesman John McGee said his company is aiming to mail credit reports to consumers based on telephone requests through the toll-free number, rather than requiring written requests.

However, “we have some privacy concerns,” he said. TRW is studying how to get identifying information from the consumer over the telephone--information that will allow the company to confirm that it is sending the information to the correct party, he said. TRW’s Credit Data division is based in Orange.

McGee said the new number would not change the type of information available to the consumer but that callers would save money because of the toll-free line. Over the past year, TRW has nearly doubled to 500 the staff members who deal with consumer complaints, and it has nearly completed consolidating its 60 consumer service centers across the country into one location in Dallas. The firm keeps credit records on 170 million people.

Equifax, another major credit-rating company, also announced Monday that it would establish a toll-free number to answer consumer complaints starting in December. Trans-Union Corp, the rating third firm, could not be reached for comment.

Consumer advocates greeted the announcements warily.

“It’s like tossing out a life ring to someone drowning in a sea, when what you really need is a ship,” Francis said. In a recent study, CALPIRG found that two-thirds of consumers who had problems with their records were unable to get errors corrected even after contacting credit bureaus five times or more.