Identity Theft Insurance Gives Added Protection

During these economic times, the last thing you need is to have your credit ruined because of identity theft, which can take years and hundreds, or sometimes thousands of dollars to restore your good name. This has more people looking into identity theft insurance to provide them with added protection and peace of mind.

Based on a study by the Gartner Group in 2006, every minute approximately 28.5 people become a new victim of identity theft. A more recent statistic from the Federal Trade Commission states that in 2007, more than 9 million people in the U.S. had their identities stolen.

As technology evolves to prevent identity theft, state and federal governments are introducing bills to protect the public and businesses. At the same time, tech thieves are keeping up on these technological developments and inventing new ways to open credit card accounts, checking accounts, or new car loans in your name.

The good news is, identity theft insurance may be available within your current home insurance policy, as a stand-alone policy, or by simply consulting with your insurance agent to add a rider to your existing home insurance or renters insurance policy.

Identity theft insurance provides:

• Reimbursement of the cost to repair credit reports and/or the cost to hire a credit restoration service
• Reimbursement of other costs including phone bills, notary, and certified mail that are incurred during the process of research and working with creditors
• Any lost wages as a result of identity theft
• Coverage of legal and attorney expenses may be covered, depending on your insurer

What people may not know is that credit card theft only accounts for 30% of all identity theft cases, and that people can also be the victims of medical identity theft, driver's license identity theft, social security identity theft and even character identity theft. In addition to any resolution services provided to you by your credit card companies, identity theft insurance can offer services to guide you through the process of recovering your identity in any scenario.

While protecting yourself through identity theft insurance, ideally, you want to reduce your chances of becoming a victim. So here are a few tips to protect yourself:

• Monitor your credit. You have a right to receive free credit reports from all three agencies every year, including Experian, Trans Union and Equifax, by going online to www.annualcreditreport.com. This allows you to keep an eye on all your credit activity.
• Shred anything and everything that has any personal information, including ATM receipts, credit card receipts, bills of any kind, etc.
• Never give out your personal information to telemarketers or even a person who contacts you claiming to be from a credit card company. If the issue seems important, ask for the 800 number and call them back to discuss the matter.
• Try to keep your credit cards in your wallet to a minimum, carrying only what you need. Keep an inventory of all your credit cards in the event your wallet is stolen. Making photocopies of each side of your cards and license will allow you to do this and immediately contact your creditors to stop fraudulent charges.
• Take advantage of the growing trend of receiving your credit card bills electronically. This will prevent your bills, with your full credit card number, from sitting in your mail box where they can be stolen. If you do mail your bills, put them in a mail box versus leaving them in your mail box to be picked up by your carrier.
• Did you know that all your personal information, including your credit card number, is stored on the magnetic strip on your hotel room card? Make sure to either destroy the card before you leave or hand it over to the front desk.

In the event your wallet is stolen or you suspect you are a victim of stolen identity aside from contacting your credit card companies and your bank, contact the fraud department for each of the three credit repositories and place a fraud alert on your credit report. This will become active with 24-hours and prevents the pre-approval of any credit accounts and insurance offers for two years. If your wallet was stolen, file a police report in that city. Although it is highly unlikely that this will result in the return of your wallet, it does provide you with a case number, which may be required during the course of your credit restoration.

Contact your insurance agent to ask about identity theft insurance or get your free home insurance quote or renters insurance quote today.

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