In the realm of scary identity-theft stories, this one in today's New York Times will leave many cowering under the covers … especially those living in Arizona.
According to a survey cited in the article, one in every six Arizona adults has been the victim of identity theft sometime in the past five years. Local law enforcement blames a booming methamphetamine trade. And while I personally question the soundness of that alarming one-in-six statistic, it's certainly fair to say that identity theft continues to climb the chart mapping those property crimes we have come to most fear.
A personal anecdote in support of that last contention: Last week I was on the horn with my insurance agent buying coverage for the new home we are purchasing. Generally speaking, insurance agents who depend on sales to me for making their monthly quotas will fare poorly; I am one of those less is more types.
So when the agent mentioned that I could purchase $15,000 worth of protection against identity theft for a $25 additional premium it surprised me greatly to hear the words "I'll take that" tumbling from my mouth.
Maybe I got ripped off -- that's always my suspicion when buying insurance -- but I had read one too many identity-theft horror stories, and that was before flipping open this morning's New York Times.
Have any thoughts about identify-theft insurance? Please share.
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I was offered a similar
I was offered a similar rider when my homeowners policy was renewed last month, and I did exactly the same thing as you. I have tried to be very careful with my identity, but I do know that given how often security seems to be compromised lately, chances are good that the crooks can get their hands on it anyway. I know that most fraudulent credit card purchases (for example) would likely not be charged to me in the event, but I've seen the stories of folks who have had to make good. It seems to me that the real loss to an individual in an identity theft is the damage to one's financial reputation (i.e. credit score), and I'm not sure if that can be repaired with this insurance. Still, $25 seems cheap enough for at least some peace of mind. I have no idea if it'll be worth it, and truthfully, I really don't ever want to find out.