Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information to commit fraud or other crimes. Reclaiming your identity can be slow and costly. That’s where identity theft insurance can help.

​

If you decide you want identity theft insurance, you have at least three options. Here’s what you can do.

• Check to see if it’s already included in your homeowners or renters insurance policy.

• Add it to your homeowners or renters insurance policy.

• Buy it as a standalone policy.

• ​

Identity theft insurance usually costs from $25 to $50 a year, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That estimate is the same whether you’re buying a standalone policy or adding a “rider” or “endorsement” to your homeowners or renters policy.

​

Most policies have benefit limits. Those can range from $10,000 to $15,000, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. So, if your cost of recovering from identity theft were, say, $25,000, you would have to pay the difference.

​

Some policies have deductibles. That means you may have to pay the first $100 to $500 of costs before your identity theft insurance kicks in.

​

You can also look at getting protection from an identity theft protection service, which can provide additional features such as monitoring for suspicious uses of your information, or dark web monitoring.  Companies sell such services directly to consumers. Your employer may also offer an identity theft protection service as a benefit.

​

What identity theft insurance usually covers

​

An identity theft insurance policy can reimburse you for some of the expenses incurred from the day to day activities and efforts made in trying to restore your identity and repair your credit.

Here’s a list of expenses that might be covered, depending on the policy.

• Copies of your credit reports

• Long-distance phone calls

• Lost wages

• Notary fees

• Mailing documents

• Legal fees

• Child care costs

• Credit monitoring services

 

Keep in mind, identity theft insurance does not cover direct financial losses you may incur as a result of identity theft. It only reimburses some of the expenses that happen after identity theft occurs.