Comments on: Is Identity Theft Insurance Worth It?

By: Free Money Finance

Free Money Finance — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:19:47 +0000

Star Money Articles for the Week of August 20

Here are some recent interesting posts from the MoneyBlogNetwork and beyond: MightyBargainHunter hopes to make money by journaling. Five Cent Nickel says TIAA-CREF got canned. Blueprint for Financial Prosperity discusses identity theft insurance. Consu…

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:39:59 +0000

yeah, i’m not going to put money and my sensitive information in a company where the co-founder appears to have a history of suspected scams and criminal history, despite the ceo seemingly to be on the up and up given his past work history.

only three claims paid out is a dang good return for them, considering that you can do everything yourself. i wonder how many claims they have rejected.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:41:48 +0000

I found another article about Davis from just last month. It talks about how a guy actually got caught trying to get a loan with Davis’ SSN.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/180194.html

By: Jake

Jake — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:40:00 +0000

To those who have signed up for Lifelock, perhaps you should read about how shady the co-founder of the company is:
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-05-31/news/what-happened-in-vegas/full

By: mommy

mommy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:53:51 +0000

I’ve got LifeLock for peace of mind. I also like that I could add my kids for a nominal fee. Kids are BIG targets for ID theft because it could be years before they ever apply for credit and catch on. Of course, you could just get their free credit reports annually and you’ll keep them safe. I just like the little bit of added security.

As someone who is constantly telling people to raise their deductibles on insurance based on the cost of insurance argument, buying into the id theft thing is a little bit against my usual fiscal makeup, but now it is one less thing on my “stuff to worry about” list.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:04:22 +0000

My uncle was one of those Arizona victims last year. Someone stole a whole stack of his company’s paychecks out of their outgoing mail and used the information on them to open a bunch of accounts. Naturally the criminal is totally liable but here the company was as well for putting information on those paychecks that they should not have. Still was a huge hassle for my uncle though.

By: Miller

Miller — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:51:32 +0000

I don’t think you’ll find a single insurnace industry where the expected costs of the the bad thing happening (car accident, ID theft, etc.) is close to equal to the premiums you pay. Remember, the insurance company wouldn’t exist if it didn’t make money! It’s a business, not a public service.

And of course, insurance companies actually realize the expected value condition because they have a very large sample set (statistically accurate). We, as individuals, will never realize that averaging out effect, so by getting insurance we are paying for (a) peace of mind and (b) more importantly, reducing risk which would put us in a pretty bad hole.

By: The Financial Blogger

The Financial Blogger — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 11:47:50 +0000

I have written a post on identity theft not so long ago and I came with the same conclusion. Basically, identity theft insurance will cover for some sort of “peace of mind” but in fact, the company won’t do much.
- You are already insured by law regarding your bank accounts, credit cards and other financial product.
- The company’s assistance is nothing but offering services that you can do yourself.
- Overall cost of identity theft are minimal. Therefore, you will end up paying $100/years for so many years and when it happen to you, you probably won’t get your money back.

In then end, the real thieves in the story are the insurance company (is it really surprising?)

If you want to read the entire article, I posted it on my blog:
link

Cheers,
FB.