Identity Theft Insurance Helps Recover Costs Of Theft

There are some folks who may have the mistaken idea that identity theft insurance will stop someone from stealing their identity. The realty is there is no such guarantee but by having identity theft insurance can help with the recovery of money and the time involved in dealing with the challenges of getting their identity back. Stealing someone's identity is not like stealing their car, where it can be replaced with a new one. A person's identity is their reputation on many fronts, most commonly affected is their credit rating.

When someone's identity is stolen, the thief can use the information to open new credit card accounts and make other financial arrangements in their name, often using that information for years before the victim is aware. It should be understood that identity theft insurance is not limited to someone using a stolen identity to use existing credit cards or bank cards, rather identity theft insurance is meant to help pay expenses related to new accounts opened in their name without their authorization.

Typically, if someone steals a credit card and uses the information to rack up charges, the credit card issuer usually has a limit for which the cardholder is responsible. Cards opened without their knowledge can ruin their credit rating and having identity theft insurance can help with the costs involved in having negative information removed from their credit report.

Keeping Identity Safe From Thieves

For many people, the idea of identity theft insurance is reactive and they would prefer to be proactive by using identity protection measures, to prevent their identity from being stolen in the first place. There are different ways to keep unauthorized persons from accessing other people's identity, but few offer unconditional guarantees that no one will be able to obtain credit by using their name and personal information.

Unfortunately, identifying information is not like tangible property that can be locked in a safe, kept hidden from others. It is used almost daily in many different ways and although the individual may take all the steps necessary to protect it, companies they deal with may not be as stoic about protecting their customer's information. In these instances identity theft insurance can help with the cost of recovering from identity theft.

Most companies that offer identity theft insurance also offer help teaching people how to protect their identity from being stolen in many ways. Online identity theft may be one of the most common methods these days, but mailbox theft and sifting through trash are still common methods used by identity thieves.