Why Identity Theft Insurance Isn’t Really That Helpful
Personal identity theft has become a lot more newsworthy lately. Some experts say that it’s receiving much more attention than it should. It has become so common in the news that there is now an insurance to cover it called personal identity insurance.
What Does It Cover?
Personal identity theft insurance typically costs $25 to $50 per year and covers up to a total of $15,000 to $25,000 worth of expenses. It covers some lost wages that result from of time that must be taken off work to deal with fraud. Coverage for this benefit usually does not exceed $500 per week and is generally limited to four weeks of total coverage. Some attorney’s fees may be covered by this insurance.
Some insurance may also cover special mailing charges to mail fraud affidavits to the correct people. Fees for credit cards and loans that were applied for and rejected due to false information are at least partially covered.
Any long distance charges to banks etc. to discuss the fraud can also be covered.
While this may seem like a good deal for the price, consumers need to keep in mind a few things. First of all, identity theft is very unlikely. In fact the likelihood of being a victim of identity theft is just 0.35%. This makes identity theft a very unlikely occurrence.
The coverage may seem adequate but when actually broken down, parts of it aren’t very useful. For example, the lost wage item sounds good but at $500 a week, it’s not enough to cover what many people would be making. As well it doesn’t consider that many people are unable to take time off from work.
Personal identity theft coverage doesn’t fix your credit or criminal record as home or auto insurance might do. It strictly helps with the expenses so you can fix it on your own. The expenses entailed generally don’t surmount $1,000 so you may find that purchasing a policy is of no benefit.
