We’ve all seen those credit card commercials on television advertising ways to keep your identity safe. They involve innocent victims of identity theft talking in the voices of the criminals who stole their identities. One includes a couple of old ladies sitting on a sofa surrounded by gaudy decorations involving flowers and doilies. While this doesn’t sound so unusual, the ladies are speaking in the voices of two men who have stolen their credit cards, and possibly their identities, and purchased motorcycles. Little old ladies with masculine voices talking about fast motorcycles? Hilarious! However, in real life, there’s no humor in identity theft.
When you’re the victim of identity theft, it feels as if your life has been ripped away from you, and for good reason – it has. The person who has stolen your identity is out living your life – well, what other people think is your life. In actuality, the person is living whatever life he or she pleases under your name. The person is getting and using credit cards in your name, obtaining jobs in your name, maybe even starting a family in your name. Proving your identity has been stolen can be a lengthy and expensive process, as can restoring your identity and taking care of the ruins left behind by the identity theft hurricane.
Identity theft insurance will help you restore your identity, and it’s relatively inexpensive. It can help cover the costs of restoring your identity, such as paying phone bills, any lost wages during the time your identity was stolen, and any legal costs you acquire.
You can purchase identity theft insurance as a sole insurance policy, or you can add it as an endorsement to another insurance policy, such as your homeowner’s insurance policy. Some homeowner’s insurance policies already include identity theft insurance. Check your homeowner’s insurance policy for coverage or endorsements, or speak with an insurance agent about purchasing identity theft insurance.
