Interestingly, many consumers have no idea why our team here at Lillie-Couch recommends identity theft insurance to our clients. Here’s why this is such an important type of insurance product you cannot afford to miss.
Last year, a client’s identification was lost through no fault of his own. Rather, the client, a man in his 70s, was taken advantage of by a person who contacted him posing as a representative from the IRS. He requested confirmation of his name, Social Security number, and address before providing our client with “important information about his taxes.” Not knowingly, he provided that information only to find that his information was later used to open credit cards and loans.
We don’t want you to have the same experience. That’s why we want to give you as much information as you can have about ID theft.
How Does ID Theft Even Happen?
The story we provided is just one example of how ID theft happens today. Unfortunately, there are many other ways. Here’s a short list of examples:
- Senior citizen ID theft
- Child ID theft
- Online shopping fraud
- Driver’s license theft
- Social Security number theft
- Credit card fraud
- Debit card fraud
- Biometric ID theft
- Criminal identity theft
- Tax identity theft
The list can go on. The point is that your personal information is at risk today. Even if you are very careful on a routine basis, there are still going to be instances in which you are faced with risk.
What Can You Do About This?
There’s a two-fold method of protection you should have. First, you need to have a method that allows you to reduce the risk of easy ID theft – make it harder for anyone to get your information. Second, you need help fixing the problem if it happens.
Make Your ID Theft Harder
How can you avoid ID theft? There are several methods for doing so. The primary method is to safeguard your personal information. If someone calls you requesting this personal information, tell them that you don’t feel safe providing that. Instead, hang up and call the location using the phone number you already have on file. This ensures no one is receiving your information that shouldn’t have it.
You also want to be proactive about protecting your information from would-be theft by making it harder for people to access it. For example, you should use a credit monitoring service. This service will send you a notification any time your personal information is picked up on the dark web. That’s where a great deal of ID theft takes place.
You can also ask the credit bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian, to place a freeze on your information. That means creditors seeking information cannot get it, and new accounts cannot be opened.
Invest in ID Theft Protection Insurance
ID theft insurance is the backbone of the protection you have. It doesn’t work like other types of insurance products. It doesn’t pay for the damage or the loss. Rather, it helps give you the funds you need to fight the claims and to protect your ID going forward. It helps to clear your name from the debt owed, for example. This is a powerful way of protecting your information.
The key to remember here is that ID theft insurance is critical because the process of clearing your name is very expensive. It can also take months, if not years, to go through. This type of insurance provides you with the extra help you need to ensure the problems are removed. If you want this type of protection or are unsure if you need it, let our team help explain the options to you.