I would like to know how u say prepaid legal’s focus is not necessarily remedying ID theft. How do you remedy the problem when your goverment truely isnt addressing the problem themselfs? Besides the fact prepaid legal will clean up all 5 areas of your ID once it has been stolden. Every one else only looks at the your credit cards. They will do the work unlike the other companys that make you do all the work and only guide you on who to talk to and what to say. You are still doing all the work.
If you are an agent and you don’t tell your client that ID Theft coverage is available at a nominal price and they have their ID stolen. Do you think you might have an E&o problem ?
The comment about Pre-Paid Legal Services is not completely correct, in that there is a major focus on remediation.
Continual credit monitoring by the Credit Repositories is provided for the member and their spouse, and that is a big benefit from the side of loss prevention. But if someone actually does become a victim of Identity Theft, the real value kicks in. An experienced agent from Kroll Background America is then assigned to do the major portion of the credit restoration work, and works on the member’s behalf until the member advises them that everything is taken care of. That saves the member hundreds of hours of work and the cost of lost work time chasing after related issues.
As a CITRMS professional that works with business clients on a daily basis regarding their data breach exposures and compliance issues, I try to read every identity theft article that google search delivers to me daily. Many are sadly misinformed and/or poorly researched. This article is a refreshingly well balanced, well researched piece.
I would like to reiterate the other commenter’s feedback in that Pre-Paid Legal’s Identity Theft Shield product does provide full restoration in all areas of identity theft, along with credit monitoring. Full restoration is tough to come by. Most guarantees are similar to Lifelock’s in that they are extremely limited in nature. Pre-Paid Legal’s is very broad, and serviced by Kroll, a well respected company in the industry. Additionally, access to attorneys is a key piece, especially in non-financial identity thefts such as character, medical, etc. However, it is important to note that the PPL Identity Theft Shield is not identity theft insurance. It does not reimburse for losses, and depends on the financial institutions to make those reimbursements. It also does not provide restoration for children (although a single membership does cover member and spouse/partner, and the legal access can be used to help clear up issues for the children). Ideally, with full restoration, you would hopefully not have any direct financial losses that aren’t reimbursable, but this is not always the case. For these reasons, I think that a good case can be made for maintaining both a restoration membership and an insurance program such as the Travelers program mentioned in the article. ID theft insurance products that do not cover direct losses and restrict coverage on indirect losses are, IMHO, nearly worthless. Prevention services that depend on fraud alerts and credit freezes also provide extremely limited value, as they don’t prevent non-financial identity theft, and don’t prevent existing account fraud.
However, if you maintain a basic Pre-Paid Legal membership with the Identity Theft Shield Gold product (monitors all three bureaus), you pay $29.95/month ($15.95/month without legal access, but the extra $14 is totally worth it for the legal plan). Add $79/year for Travelers product (at $30,000 coverage), and you have good basic legal access for the entire family, first class restoration and monitoring services for member and spouse/partner, and reimbursement insurance for the whole family on direct and indirect expenses for $438/year (about $36.50/month). That’s barely a half-tank of gas for some really great services, access, and protection. Similar levels of protection could probably be reached through other combinations of products/services, less the legal access, but I’m biased in that I’ve had the legal service for years and think it’s a great service.
Kudos again to the writer for a great article highlighting the pro’s and con’s of various ID theft protection products.
It’s also interesting to note that Javelin’s research is some of the only research that shows ID theft on the decline, and it was conveniently funded by Visa, Wells Fargo, and CheckFree. These are companies that might have just a little stake in the public believing that ID theft isn’t a major problem. For an interesting article on this at consumeraffairs.com, see this link: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/02/ftc_top10_folo.html
The Gartner Group’s data and the FTC’s data indicate that ID theft is still on the rise. There are a number of factors to consider in the statistics either way. Some companies consider credit card fraud to be ID theft, some do not. Same thing with bank account fraud. The numbers can vary widely depending on the source and how the data is manipulated and reported. For certain, though, is that ID theft is a major problem and it is here to stay.
One item not mentioned is key for me when discussing IDe theft programs and that is ‘peace of mind’. Knowing that I have an experienced team of individuals, a phone call away, to help if I become a victim.
We should also keep in mind that credit card theft is only one of the five (5) areas of identity theft (financial, medical, criminal, social security and drivers license). A comprehensive plan which covers all five areas should be a major consideration for all families, individuals and businesses.
NOTE: as mentioned earlier, some companies consider credit card fraud to be ID theft, MOST do not. Same thing with bank account FRAUD. The numbers can vary widely depending on the source and how the data is manipulated and reported.
Does anyone know where to get information about the different offerings from insurance companies. For example does someone know what product is offered by State Farm or Farmers Insurance in Arizona?
The article’s best point is “the hassle factor” ..if my identity is stolen, I don’t need insurance, I need a professional company to restore it who actually does the work, not just tells me what to do. http://www.ID247.com is the best coverage I’ve seen..they use Licensed Investigators affilliated with the world’s top fraud solutions company.
Pre-Paid Legal is affiliated with the top Risk Management company in the world–Kroll Background America. Kroll is the one that steps in AND DOES the work for you if you become a victim of ID Theft, and are a PPL Identity Theft Shield member. This really takes the pain out of becoming a victim of ID Theft. Without it, people typically spend in the order of 600 hours of their personal time–including taking time off from work (or doing it at work), to get the accounts and your credit restored.
Don’t get fooled by that company that claims to provide $1 Million in insurance. If you have a PPL ID Theft Shield, you won’t have those losses to begin with, because you will know about the problem in time to have those bad charges reversed.
I would like to know how u say prepaid legal’s focus is not necessarily remedying ID theft. How do you remedy the problem when your goverment truely isnt addressing the problem themselfs? Besides the fact prepaid legal will clean up all 5 areas of your ID once it has been stolden. Every one else only looks at the your credit cards. They will do the work unlike the other companys that make you do all the work and only guide you on who to talk to and what to say. You are still doing all the work.
If you are an agent and you don’t tell your client that ID Theft coverage is available at a nominal price and they have their ID stolen. Do you think you might have an E&o problem ?
The comment about Pre-Paid Legal Services is not completely correct, in that there is a major focus on remediation.
Continual credit monitoring by the Credit Repositories is provided for the member and their spouse, and that is a big benefit from the side of loss prevention. But if someone actually does become a victim of Identity Theft, the real value kicks in. An experienced agent from Kroll Background America is then assigned to do the major portion of the credit restoration work, and works on the member’s behalf until the member advises them that everything is taken care of. That saves the member hundreds of hours of work and the cost of lost work time chasing after related issues.
As a CITRMS professional that works with business clients on a daily basis regarding their data breach exposures and compliance issues, I try to read every identity theft article that google search delivers to me daily. Many are sadly misinformed and/or poorly researched. This article is a refreshingly well balanced, well researched piece.
I would like to reiterate the other commenter’s feedback in that Pre-Paid Legal’s Identity Theft Shield product does provide full restoration in all areas of identity theft, along with credit monitoring. Full restoration is tough to come by. Most guarantees are similar to Lifelock’s in that they are extremely limited in nature. Pre-Paid Legal’s is very broad, and serviced by Kroll, a well respected company in the industry. Additionally, access to attorneys is a key piece, especially in non-financial identity thefts such as character, medical, etc. However, it is important to note that the PPL Identity Theft Shield is not identity theft insurance. It does not reimburse for losses, and depends on the financial institutions to make those reimbursements. It also does not provide restoration for children (although a single membership does cover member and spouse/partner, and the legal access can be used to help clear up issues for the children). Ideally, with full restoration, you would hopefully not have any direct financial losses that aren’t reimbursable, but this is not always the case. For these reasons, I think that a good case can be made for maintaining both a restoration membership and an insurance program such as the Travelers program mentioned in the article. ID theft insurance products that do not cover direct losses and restrict coverage on indirect losses are, IMHO, nearly worthless. Prevention services that depend on fraud alerts and credit freezes also provide extremely limited value, as they don’t prevent non-financial identity theft, and don’t prevent existing account fraud.
However, if you maintain a basic Pre-Paid Legal membership with the Identity Theft Shield Gold product (monitors all three bureaus), you pay $29.95/month ($15.95/month without legal access, but the extra $14 is totally worth it for the legal plan). Add $79/year for Travelers product (at $30,000 coverage), and you have good basic legal access for the entire family, first class restoration and monitoring services for member and spouse/partner, and reimbursement insurance for the whole family on direct and indirect expenses for $438/year (about $36.50/month). That’s barely a half-tank of gas for some really great services, access, and protection. Similar levels of protection could probably be reached through other combinations of products/services, less the legal access, but I’m biased in that I’ve had the legal service for years and think it’s a great service.
Kudos again to the writer for a great article highlighting the pro’s and con’s of various ID theft protection products.
Eric Freedman, CITRMS
It’s also interesting to note that Javelin’s research is some of the only research that shows ID theft on the decline, and it was conveniently funded by Visa, Wells Fargo, and CheckFree. These are companies that might have just a little stake in the public believing that ID theft isn’t a major problem. For an interesting article on this at consumeraffairs.com, see this link: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/02/ftc_top10_folo.html
The Gartner Group’s data and the FTC’s data indicate that ID theft is still on the rise. There are a number of factors to consider in the statistics either way. Some companies consider credit card fraud to be ID theft, some do not. Same thing with bank account fraud. The numbers can vary widely depending on the source and how the data is manipulated and reported. For certain, though, is that ID theft is a major problem and it is here to stay.
One item not mentioned is key for me when discussing IDe theft programs and that is ‘peace of mind’. Knowing that I have an experienced team of individuals, a phone call away, to help if I become a victim.
We should also keep in mind that credit card theft is only one of the five (5) areas of identity theft (financial, medical, criminal, social security and drivers license). A comprehensive plan which covers all five areas should be a major consideration for all families, individuals and businesses.
NOTE: as mentioned earlier, some companies consider credit card fraud to be ID theft, MOST do not. Same thing with bank account FRAUD. The numbers can vary widely depending on the source and how the data is manipulated and reported.
Good article.
Does anyone know where to get information about the different offerings from insurance companies. For example does someone know what product is offered by State Farm or Farmers Insurance in Arizona?
The article’s best point is “the hassle factor” ..if my identity is stolen, I don’t need insurance, I need a professional company to restore it who actually does the work, not just tells me what to do. http://www.ID247.com is the best coverage I’ve seen..they use Licensed Investigators affilliated with the world’s top fraud solutions company.
Can anyone provide a contact name at Travelers that can open a new broker ?
Pre-Paid Legal is affiliated with the top Risk Management company in the world–Kroll Background America. Kroll is the one that steps in AND DOES the work for you if you become a victim of ID Theft, and are a PPL Identity Theft Shield member. This really takes the pain out of becoming a victim of ID Theft. Without it, people typically spend in the order of 600 hours of their personal time–including taking time off from work (or doing it at work), to get the accounts and your credit restored.
Don’t get fooled by that company that claims to provide $1 Million in insurance. If you have a PPL ID Theft Shield, you won’t have those losses to begin with, because you will know about the problem in time to have those bad charges reversed.