Identity theft continues to be a hot topic as 2008 rolls in. And judging by the calls received by the Better Business Bureau serving northern Colorado and east-central Wyoming, many consumers wonder if they should buy insurance to protect themselves.
Identity theft insurance provides reimbursement for the cost of restoring your identity and repairing credit reports. This includes phone bills, lost wages for time taken from work to deal with the fraud, notary expenses, loan reapplication fees, certified mailing costs and sometimes attorney fees, with the prior consent of the insurer.
Some insurance companies include identity theft insurance as part of homeowner’s insurance. Others sell it as either a stand-alone policy or as an endorsement or rider to a homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy. According to the Insurance Information Institute, these policies cost, on average, between $25 and $50 for $15,000 to $25,000 worth of coverage.
Purchasing such insurance is a personal decision. Remember, however, that victims are usually not liable for fraudulent charges incurred because of identity thieves. It is out-of-pocket losses that should be considered. The 2005 Identity Fraud Survey Report released by Javelin Strategy & Research and the Better Business Bureau found that while the median value of identity fraud crimes is $750, most identity fraud victims incurred no out-of-pocket costs. The average victim spent 28 hours trying to “restore” his or her credit record.
If you decide to purchase ID theft insurance, the Better Business Bureau suggests:
-- Check first with your insurance agent or insurance company to find out if identity theft insurance is offered. Ask what they recommend for your situation.
-- Be cautious before investing money in a new product offered by an unknown company. Make sure you deal with a reputable organization. Contact the Better Business Bureau for a reliability report or visit www.bbb.org.
-- Ask about the deductible; coverage limits (some policies place a dollar limit on retaining legal assistance or on the amount of lost wages that will be covered), and any restrictions on how money for expenses is to be spent.
For additional tips and information on dealing with identity theft, visit bbb.org or call 800-564-0371.
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Joe wrote on Dec 31, 2007 1:37 PM:
As you wisely pointed out, many expenses have to be pre-approved such as lawyers.
The "insurance" policies are written so that you will usually get "REIMBURSED" very little.
Government reports quoted state that the average identity theft victim and their family spend an "average" of OVER SIX HUNDRED HOURS to RESTORE their identity. One man who is doing it methodically, have stopped counting at over TWO THOUSAND HOURS !!!
Why will you get very little REIMBURSED ? The policy usually reads that you can collect up to $500 for up to 4 consecutive weeks. Most people can NOT afford to take off 4 weeks and WAIT TO GET REIMBURSED ! Most people would be afraid that when they tried to come back in 4 weeks that their job would no longer be there! Most people just tough it out with getting harassing phone calls from bill collectors who only want the money, NOT to help you solve that it was an identity Thief, not you who stole the merchandise.
If you are self-employer or a contract worker, how do you prove how much pay you lost? If you take off sick days or vacation time, then you GOT PAID, and can NOT be reimbursed for lost pay.
A major misconception is that you will NOT be held LIABLE if you promptly report the loss or abuse of your credit or DEBIT cards.
WRONG !!! If you do NOT report it within 48 hours, then your liability on a CREDIT card jumps to $500, and a DEBIT card liability STARTS right away at $500 !!!
You might have seen the commercials with the people talking in voices which were obviously NOT their own. These commercials won AWARDS for being funny, BUT the victims do NOT think they are funny.
You might have seen the "ZERO LIABILITY" commercials for credit cards, but did you see all the fine print on the screen that is hard or impossible to read. Basically to have ZERO LIABILITY, the merchant has to use a special service that check for fraud and that costs an EXTRA fee that most merchants do NOT want to pay EXTRA to get.
Federal Trade Commission Rule "E" says that YOU have to report the loss or abuse of your credit or debit card IN WRITING WITHIN 60 days of when the bill was mailed, even if it was mailed to the wrong address, lost in the mail, or any reason !!!
If you did NOT report it in writing within 60 days, then you LEGALL OWE the money and need EXPERTS to handle your case.
Try to get a REIMBURSEMENT policy to pay you to have a lawyer fight a bill which you LEGALLY OWE. Even if they pre-approved the law firm, doesn't mean they will approve a fight of a FRIVOLOUS cause for a bill you legally owe.
The average victim of FINANCIAL identity theft does NOT learn about it for 12 to 14 months. You could enroll today, and pay for 12 or more months, then find out that you were a victim BEFORE you even enrolled for the coverage. Thus, no get paid, ZERO, NADA, ZELCH because it was a PRE-existing condition. You won't even get a refund of your insurance premium !!!
Most insurance policies have other clauses to LIMIT how much IF ANY, that they will pay out such as no payments for identity theft that was done by a family member or that you helped in such as delaying the theft report.
However, almost ONE THIRD (27%) FAIL to do it right, so they may have a nightmare that can last 5, 10, 15, or more years !!!
So now you have part of the bad news ...
are you ready for "The Rest of the Story" ???
Only 22 to 28% of all PERSONAL Identity Theft (IDT) is FINANCIAL like checks and credit or debit cards.
VISA has a policy which you can read about on their web site that states that any merchant who REFUSES to allow a transaction simply because the person will NOT give them proper PHOTO ID can lose their privilege to take future VISA payments.
See page 28 of this PDF to read what is copied from Visa’s PDF:
http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/rules_for_visa_merchants.pdf
Requesting Cardholder ID
When should you ask a cardholder for an official government ID? although Visa
rules do not preclude merchants from asking for cardholder ID, merchants
cannot make an ID a condition of acceptance . Therefore, merchants cannot
refuse to complete a purchase transaction because a cardholder refuses to
provide ID . Visa believes merchants should not ask for ID as part of their
regular card acceptance procedures . Laws in several states also make it illegal
for merchants to write a cardholder’s personal information, such as an address or
phone number, on a sales receipt.
If you are only seeking protection for FINANCIAL identity theft, then you have learned that “reimbursement” insurance offers no real protection, and leaves you about 75% EXPOSED to harm like an “ostrich sticking it’s head in the sand”
You also need to be concerned, even if you have poor credit or are any age, even 1 year old or younger for the FOUR other forms of Identity Theft: criminal; driver’s license; Social Security Number; and medical.
If you’d like a free copy of “21 Tips To Reduce Your Risk Of Identity Theft” then e-mail me at TulsaIDT@yahoo.com with “SEND 21 Tips To Reduce Your Risk Of Identity Theft” in the subject line.
Now for the good news and GREAT news. There is Identity Theft “RESTORATION” coverage” by only one company that I know which is a 35 year-old Publicly traded company with about 4,000 in 60 cities across the world. They realize that you need EXPERTS to do the job RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. They have former FBI and CIA AGENTS, former law officers, licensed investigators, forensic accountants, lawyers, and other experts. You get ONE PERSON who you talk to and that person communicates with the TEAM OF EXPERTS, so you don’t have to tell your story over and over again as you are switched from department to department while you try to find help like in other companies.
UNLIKE other companies, they do NOT tell you what to do for an average of OVER SIX HUNDRED HOURS if you get a “RESOLUTION” coverage. These EXPERTS have you okay a power of attorney, so they can do the nightmarish work FOR YOU !!!
You’ll still need to fill out a police report, and maybe have the PLEASURE to see the crooks squirm in court, but that is better than countless hours while your boss gets hot about you losing sleep, making errors at work, and work taking a back seat to the identity theft nightmare.
You also do NOT have to pay DOUBLE to get your spouse or significant covered the same as you. Other companies charge per name or a family rate.
You can get credit monitoring by 1 company or 3 companies for just $3 extra a month. Plus each of you get a “credit score” and an explanation of what it means by Experian.
You don’t get that with most monitoring services. They also watch the daily change of addresses processed by the US Post Office and alert clients if they show up. That can head off a Identity Thief.
There is a PRO-active national and local data base search to see if Identity Thieves are using your name to open bank accounts, register cars, commit crimes, file for bankruptcy, buy homes, etc. This is another UNIQUE service.
An identity Thief can cause many legal problems for you, especially if they abuse your driver’s license or formerly GOOD NAME. Even if you have POOR CREDIT, your clean criminal record is worth gold to professional thieves who use your name to hide from police or work. If you get the family Legal plan, then you can earn a $3/month discount on the “Identity Theft “RESTORATION” coverage. I’ve owned this family legal plan coverage from this company for over 23 years !!!
In most states you can get a rider to the family legal plan that gives your EMERGENCY 24/7 access to a lawyer if you are stopped, questioned, or arrested by a law officer or security guard. This is for any reason, even identity theft ANYWHERE in the USA !!!
For any reason, you are covered if a Child protective Services SOCIAL WORKER tries to take away your children or grand children. This has happened due to medical identity theft where a MET addict had a baby in another lady’s name and the baby tested positive for Meth. CPS wanted to take away the baby she did NOT have and the 4 children which she did have. It was a long and complicated nightmare.
The total investment in your greatest asset is less than what many people spend a day for a pint of bottled water, $1.18, and even less in some states.
If a bottled water a day is wise to protect your health, then protecting your WEALTH is just as vital.
I don’t know of anyone who will surf the Internet without many programs that can be costly to protect their computer against viruses, spyware, adware, and much more, Aren’t you more valuable than your computer ???
Just the identity Theft “RESTORATION” Coverage without the $3/month discount for owning the family legal plan is either 12.95 or 15.95 to cover up to two, the member and spouse or significant other, plus a one-time $10 enrollment fee. That’s only about 40 to 50 cents a day. You can ‘t buy even a USA TODAY or Sunday local paper fro that little.
You’ll never know what you had … until it’s gone.
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