The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Treb3 on July 19, 2018, 08:42:40 PM
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I don't buy it. The most common theft experienced by people is having their CC or debit card stolen and used by someone. Correcting that (and getting your money back/the charges reversed) is a simple and free process.
The more concerning problem is having accounts opened in your name. These can take longer to resolve, but generally you can file a police report and have the account removed closed/removed from your credit report for free. You can discover these accounts yourself by monitoring your credit report for free. You get one from each agency every year for free, so you could be checking every 4 months from just that. Many banks etc also offer free credit monitoring.
What you get on top of that from paying for ID theft insurance is effectively just reimbursement of costs to do the above, if any.
A GAO report said most only cover “covered postage and notary fees; the cost of obtaining credit reports or implementing credit freezes; costs related to replacing documents such as driver’s licenses and passports".
So, not much if anything. If you're really worried about identity theft, freeze your credit with each of the agencies. It may be free or cost a small amount depending on where you live.
I really can't see an upside to paying for identify theft insurance for 99.99% of people.
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I don't buy it. The most common theft experienced by people is having their CC or debit card stolen and used by someone. Correcting that (and getting your money back/the charges reversed) is a simple and free process.
The more concerning problem is having accounts opened in your name. These can take longer to resolve, but generally you can file a police report and have the account removed closed/removed from your credit report for free. You can discover these accounts yourself by monitoring your credit report for free. You get one from each agency every year for free, so you could be checking every 3 months from just that. Many banks etc also offer free credit monitoring.
What you get on top of that from paying for ID theft insurance is effectively just reimbursement of costs to do the above, if any.
A GAO report said most only cover “covered postage and notary fees; the cost of obtaining credit reports or implementing credit freezes; costs related to replacing documents such as driver’s licenses and passports".
So, not much if anything. If you're really worried about identity theft, freeze your credit with each of the agencies. It may be free or cost a small amount depending on where you live.
I really can't see an upside to paying for identify theft insurance for 99.99% of people.
Indeed, and in fact sites like CreditKarma and CreditSesame not only allow you to check your credit report as often as you like but will even send you credit report alerts when there are changes. Identity theft insurance/protection is quickly becoming unnecessary.
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Be sure to check what it actually covers. I had it included with my house insurance (didn’t even know it was there) but when I read it, it didn’t provide coverage for debts incurred by the identity thief, it only covered the legal fees associated with trying to get those debts out of your name. I cancelled mine since the coverage was nowhere near what the agent tried to make it out as.
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You get one from each agency every year for free, so you could be checking every 3 months from just that.
What's the 4th agency that you're including here (not Equifax, Experian, or Transunion)? Or is the '3 months' a typo that should read '4 months?'
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You get one from each agency every year for free, so you could be checking every 3 months from just that.
What's the 4th agency that you're including here (not Equifax, Experian, or Transunion)? Or is the '3 months' a typo that should read '4 months?'
Just a typo, I'll update it.
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Useless. Do it yourself with any credit monitoring site and staying on top of your affairs.
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Just a typo, I'll update it.
No worries, I wanted to know if there was a 4th I could monitor!
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Freeze your credit with all 3 agencies — it stops access before a breach, not after. Sure it’s a pain to do a temporary thaw when a background check is called for, but it makes us think about adding credit. Currently TX allows the agencies to charge $10 each but it becomes free in 2 months, & Equifax has stopped charging for it. Sign up for Credit Karma or Credit Sesame before putting the freeze in place.
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Freeze your credit with all 3 agencies — it stops access before a breach, not after. Sure it’s a pain to do a temporary thaw when a background check is called for, but it makes us think about adding credit. Currently TX allows the agencies to charge $10 each but it becomes free in 2 months, & Equifax has stopped charging for it. Sign up for Credit Karma or Credit Sesame before putting the freeze in place.
+1