{"id":1330,"date":"2011-02-16T12:09:20","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T17:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2017-11-09T08:52:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T14:52:18","slug":"identity-theft-in-maine-can-insurance-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/identity-theft-in-maine-can-insurance-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity Theft in Maine &#8211; Can Insurance Help?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Identity theft has been a hot topic in Maine recently. It&#8217;s a nearly unavoidable risk in our digital age. Many of our clients have asked about &#8220;identity theft insurance&#8221;.\u00a0 We&#8217;re not aware of any insurance that can prevent identity fraud from occurring, or pay for fraudulent charges someone may make on your account. Some of the insurers we represent do offer solutions that can help if your information has already been compromised.<\/p>\n<p>Experts recommend using\u00a0the\u00a0\u00a03 D&#8217;s&#8221;\u00a0to help you reduce the chance of identity theft, and deal with it if it does happen: Deter, Detect and Defend.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333399;\">DETER Identity Theft<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Shred financial documents before you throw them away.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Don&#8217;t give out personal info to anyone unless you have initiated the contact and know who you are dealing with.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Lock personal information\u00a0at home, especially if you are having work done at your house, or have roommates.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Choose complex passwords. Avoid birth dates or easily guessed numbers or phrases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Don&#8217;t print your Social Security Number on checks,\u00a0 carry your card in your wallet, or give it out unless absolutely necessary (insurance agents may ask for it to quote your home or auto insurance; it&#8217;s not required, but does provide the most accurate quote).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333399;\">DETECT by Monitoring Your Accounts<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Inspect financial statements for charges you did not make.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Check your credit report for information that seems incorrect.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Be alert to bills that do not arrive as expected.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333399;\">DEFEND Yourself as Soon as You Suspect a Problem<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Place a &#8220;fraud alert&#8221; on your credit reports. To place an initial 90-day fraud alert, call one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333399;\">Equifax:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 800-525-6285<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333399;\">Experian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 888-397-3742<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333399;\">TransUnion:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 800-680-7289<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Close accounts that have been affected. Ask for written verification that the account has been closed and any fraudulent debts wiped out.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">File a police report.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #333399;\">Identity Fraud Insurance in Maine<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Your\u00a0Maine insurance agency probably sells products that can reimburse you from expenses incurred to help you recover from identity theft. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">\u00a0Identity Fraud Insurance May Pay for:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cost of notifying merchants, credit agencies and lenders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Lost wages and incurred daycare\u00a0expenses for time you spend notifying authorities and lenders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A\u00a0&#8220;resolution service&#8221; to work with you through the process.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Fees for re-applying and re-issuing government-issued personal documentation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Loan application fees for re-applying if your application was rejected because of incorrect credit information.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Attorney fees for defense of lawsuits from creditors, criminal charges, or contesting wrongfully incurred tax liability.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">Identity Fraud Insurance Does NOT pay for:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Fraudulent charges on a credit card (these are usually wiped out by the lender, provided you notify them promptly).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Extra expenses you may incur because your credit was frozen due to suspected identity fraud. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Many of the <a title=\"Insurance Companies Noyes Hall &amp; Allen Represents, including Travelers, Progressive, Concord Group, Hanover, MMG Insurance and Peerless Insurance\" href=\"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/about\/our-partner-companies\/\" target=\"_self\">insurance companies we represent<\/a> sell Identity Fraud Expense Reimbursement coverage. To speak with an experienced <a title=\"The Noyes Hall &amp; Allen Insurance Team of Experienced Agents\" href=\"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/about\/our-team\/\" target=\"_self\">Maine insurance agent<\/a>, contact us at 207-799-5541.\u00a0 For more information about identity theft, we recommend the <a title=\"Fighting Back Against Identity Theft | Federal Trade Commission\" href=\"http:\/\/http:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/bcp\/edu\/microsites\/idtheft\/consumers\/about-identity-theft.html#Whatcanyoudotohelpfightidentitytheft\" target=\"_blank\">FTC&#8217;s consumer web site<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Identity theft has been a hot topic in Maine recently. It&#8217;s a nearly unavoidable risk in our digital age. Many of our clients have asked about &#8220;identity theft insurance&#8221;.\u00a0 We&#8217;re not aware of any insurance that can prevent identity fraud from occurring, or pay for fraudulent charges someone may make on your account. Some of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,28,15,16,19],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-condo-insurance","category-homeowners-insurance","category-news","category-renters-insurance","category-safety","category-technology","tag-crime"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4736,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions\/4736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}