Saving You Money For Life

The six o-clock news stories about identity theft have pounded the problem into our collective consciousness. The insurance industry has responded with some half-hearted policies that basically cover the cost of restoring your identity, but not the cost of the losses you may have incurred. It may not be a problem that the property and loss industry sector can ignore much longer. A recent survey exposes the depth of the problem.

The Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Index survey released in early October indicates that approximately one in five (19%) consumers report that financial information has been stolen (including a bank credit card number) and one in seven (14%) consumers report that other personal information has been stolen.

Most of us would anticipate that this activity amounted to unauthorized charges on a credit card, which much of it does: 63%. What is surprising and a little alarming is that 55% reported unauthorized charges or withdrawals from their checking account, and that 39% reported improper use of their personal information to open an account or engage in a transaction. And 22% of respondents, nearly a quarter, reported that someone obtained a new credit card in their name.

These numbers are enormous. Taking responsibility for the threat has yet to rise in proportion; 57% believe that “it won’t happen to me.” On the other hand, 70% “I would do more to prevent it if I knew what to do.” Unhappily, an insurance policy is not one of the tools currently available.

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