To Purchase Identity Theft Insurance or Credit Monitoring Services?
A lot of consumers are worried about identity theft, but protecting yourself can be a challenge. Many consumers questions whether or not they should sign up for identity theft insurance or use credit monitoring services as their method of protection. Consumers are flooded with these services and informed that they are in dire need of protection, but consumers are wondering just what professional services they need and which they don’t. Here we discuss the two most popular methods:
Identity Theft Insurance and Credit Monitoring Services
Identity theft insurance, also known as identity theft protection, is a new form of action against identity theft. Though it does not prevent identity theft from occurring, it does help protect the consumer from the costs associated with identity theft as well as the process which can be rather time consuming.
Credit monitoring services on the other hand, will monitor a consumers credit reports daily or weekly and will notify the consumer of any changes such as new accounts or collections that were added to the consumers credit report. These could be indications that the consumer has become a victim of identity theft.
Which to Buy?
When you are considering whether or not to sign up for either type of service, it is important to note that neither or these services protect personal information such and current credit cards or bank accounts. Experts feel that identity theft insurance is pointless. Why? Because identity theft insurances do not reimburse for the actual funds stolen from a consumer’s account. There are some that will cover lost wages during the recovery process, but a good attorney can usually get the victim reimbursed for these funds by the state when the thief is caught. Another thing to consider is identity theft insurance does not cover a consumer in the event their identity is stolen by a family member.
Credit monitoring services can be costly and are something that a consumer can do on their own. A consumer is allowed to have a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies once a year. Since credit monitoring does not prevent identity theft and only proves it has occurs, it is usually recommended consumers use their money for other means of protection.