Up to $1 Million in Identity Theft Insurance
If your credit card or bank information is ever stolen, the damages to your finances and credit report can be costly, so it’s worthwhile to consider identity theft insurance to guard against the cost of potential fraud.
CNBC Select reviewed more than a dozen identity theft protection services, and Identity Guard ranked high on our list for best for comprehensive identity theft insurance
Identity Guard uses IBM Watson® artificial intelligence to monitor and process information that can alert you to suspicious activity on your accounts.
While many identity protection services stop here, Identity Guard will also help you cancel your credit cards, file a police report and go through the process of repairing what damage the fraudster caused. if you’re the victim of identity theft. You can also take advantage of up to $1 million in identity theft insurance to cover costs that are associated with getting everything back on track.
Ahead, we break down the features of Identity Guard, looking at cost, insurance coverage, how many credit bureaus are monitored, dark web scanning and fraud alerts. (Read more about our methodology below.)
Identity Guard Review
Identity Guard
On Identity Guard’s secure site
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Cost
$7.20 to $23.99 per month
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Identity theft insurance
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Credit monitoring
The Total and Ultra plans monitor your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit reports; the Value plan doesn’t offer credit monitoring.
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Mobile app
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Family plan
Cost
Identity Guard offers three different plans for individuals:
- Value: Basic identity protection; costs $8.99 per month
- Total: Standard identity and credit protection; costs $19.999 per month
- Ultra: Premium identity and credit protection; costs $29.999 per month
Currently, Identity Guard is running a few discounts that could help you grab these services for less. For families, the price of each package jumps a little higher. Both families and individuals can choose to be billed monthly or get a slight monthly discount when paying for a whole year at once.
All three plans provide users with a risk management report, data breach notifications, dark web monitoring, high risk transaction monitoring and safe browsing tools. The Total and Ultra plans also provide bank account monitoring. Ultra, the most expensive plan, gives users the most comprehensive protection with these additional features:
- Social media insights report
- Credit and debit monitoring
- 401(k) and investment monitoring
- Criminal and sex offense monitoring
- USPS address change monitoring
- Home title monitoring
Identity insurance
All three plans offer the same $1 million identity theft insurance with a $0 deductible. You can access these funds after reporting that your identity was stolen within 90 days of you finding out, and you must comply with the insurance company’s identity theft recovery procedures. The limits on what the insurance covers are:
- Aggregate limit of insurance: $1,000,000 per policy period
- Lost wages: $2,000 per week, for 5 weeks maximum
- Travel expenses: $1,000 per policy period
- Elder care, spousal care and child care: $2,000 per policy period
Legal fees and private investigator fees need prior approval and would be included within the limit. You can also receive travel reimbursements for any travel you require to retrieve funds and/or repair damages to your identity.
One caveat is that if you have other insurance policy that also includes identity protection insurance, it must be billed before Identity Guard.
How many credit bureaus are monitored
The Value plan does not provide credit monitoring, but the Total plan offers one-bureau monthly credit score and three-bureau credit monitoring. The Ultra plan offers one-bureau monthly credit score (using TransUnion), three-bureau credit monitoring and annual credit reports from all three bureaus.
Dark web scanning and fraud alerts
All three plans include dark web monitoring, data breach notifications and high-risk transaction monitoring. The artificial intelligence program scans the web 24/7 for your data and…
Read More: Up to $1 Million in Identity Theft Insurance