Too many people overlook the importance of identity theft insurance. After all, why should you pay for identity theft protection services if there is no current threat to your data?
Contrary to popular belief, identity fraud cases are still at large. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shares that they recorded more than 1.3 million identity theft cases in 2020 alone.
With that in mind, readers should consider beefing up the current cybersecurity policies and systems they have in place. Otherwise, you could risk losing your bank accounts, credit cards, and even loan accounts to criminals.
Identity theft insurance services play a critical role in maintaining your safety and security during unprecedented times. Having an ongoing fraud alert checker to monitor your credit records constantly can help stop attacks before they even happen.
However, we also cannot deny that some individuals might not need active protection from identity theft. This policy does not bear the same gravity and importance as other insurance products do.
To identify whether you would benefit from identity theft protection or not, we suggest reviewing the following:
Those who generate large digital footprints leave themselves wide open to hackers. Pay extra attention to the information you post online. For example, if you feel it's cool to leave your location on every social media update, it's not. Doing so would only compromise your privacy.
It comes as no surprise that criminals would often target high-income individuals. What's interesting, however, is that you don't have to be drowning in money to attract the attention of a hacker. A good percentage of identity theft victims actually come from the middle-class. As a general rule, look into getting identity theft protection if you already earn above the median household income of $68,000.
Technological advancements allow consumers to access multiple accounts straight from their phones. While extremely convenient, these programs also increase the risk of sensitive information leaking.
For example, let's say you have your bank account linked to your phone. If you accidentally download a malicious file that tracks phone activity, criminals could easily record the numbers you enter for the pin, password, and transaction code.
Companies and individuals that store multiple pieces of personally identifiable information (PII) on a cloud or hardware system need ongoing protection against cyberattacks. PII includes social security numbers, credit card accounts, credit scores, and passport numbers. It doesn't matter if the information belongs to you, your employees, or your customers.
Make sure your business has protection for all types of cyberattacks. Assured Standard shares that identity theft is simply one of the ways hackers can hijack sensitive personal and business information. Check out our free guide on identifying your cyber insurance needs to get started.
Credit card companies have their own credit monitoring team. They often call cardholders if they detect unusual activity from any of their active credit cards. For example, if you live in New York and your card-issuing bank detects activity from Italy, they'll likely give you a confirmation call.
However, in-house credit monitoring has its limitations. Brands that offer identity theft protection services will monitor not just your credit card cards, but they'll also keep an eye out for new accounts the pop up using your personal information.
Potential fraud alerts significantly benefit those who have multiple primary and supplementary credit cards. Keeping track of card activity becomes increasingly challenging as different household members start using your account for various daily expenses.
The expenses to recover lost data can set you back by quite a bit. Statistics show that companies had to shell out at least $150 per lost data, including employee PII, customer information, and order invoices. Victims that lose even 1,000 pieces of paperwork would already need $150,000 to get back on track.
Insurance providers may offer more than the standard credit score monitoring you get from conventional identity theft services. Some even help clients track information traded on the deep web as well. The goal is to scour black markets for any piece of information related to their clients.
The victim can make an insurance claim following a cyber attack to cover the fees of their legal advisor. Most cyber insurance policies that offer identity theft coverage also provide post-attack legal support.
Identity theft can be a devastating ordeal to endure. You have the right to do some things when someone steals your identity such as creating an FTC Identity Theft Report, placing a one-year fraud alert on your credit report, and getting fraudulent information removed (or "blocked") from your credit report.
Identity theft insurance is likely more expensive than you will lose. Although identity thieves usually don't steal much, they can do a lot of damage to your identity if it goes unchecked.
On top of this, premiums for some plans may cost as little as $30 per year—a price tag that many people might consider reasonable given how often we hear about data breaches and identity thefts on the news these days.
Identity theft can be a stressful and costly ordeal, but luckily there are many options available in the market to cover you. Some standard homeowners insurance policies and business owner's policies don't typically cover identity theft, so it's important that you purchase an endorsement for this protection.
You can purchase insurance to cover identity theft from various insurance companies. For example, Experian offers an Identity Theft and Credit Protection Service, which provides dark web surveillance, credit monitoring, and up to $1 million in coverage if your identity is stolen—even if it's because someone has accessed your data from another source.
Should you get identity theft insurance protection? If you live in a household that generates above-average income, have multiple bank accounts, store sensitive information on cloud and hardware systems, and use different credit cards regularly, then submit an application right away. Having an automated identity theft monitoring system in place would greatly benefit you.
Plus, identity theft protection monthly costs start at less than $10. Considering that most identity theft victims lose a minimum of $4,800 per attack, it would take decades for the premiums to come anywhere near the potential losses of a data breach or cyberattack.
What insurance plans does your business have? Assured Standard has multiple resources on the different policies SMBs and corporations should have. Check out our article on business insurance costs and claims to learn more!
