As a member of the U.S. Military and away from your usual posting, you should consider placing an “Active Duty Alert” on your credit report.  This alert will help to minimize your risk of identity theft while your deployed.  A persons credit report contains the most vital personal information, including your home address, how you pay your bills, whether you have been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy.  It is routine for banks, insurers, employers, utility companies and businesses to use the information in your credit report to evaluate your application for a mortgage, credit card, car loan, cell phone and much more.  With you away, perhaps on the other side of the world, identity thieves have a perfect opportunity to use your personal information to open new accounts in your name.  The thieves will most probably not pay the bills and the delinquent accounts show up in your personal credit report. 

 

Fraudulent and inaccurate information may affect your ability to get a loan, rental housing, car insurance or credit card when you return to the U.S. or long after your return.  This is why we suggest you place an active duty alert because according to the Federal Trade Commission, the alert requires creditors and businesses to verify your identity before issuing credit or opening an account in your name.  The active duty alert makes it much more difficult for the identity thief to use your personal information in an illegal way.  The active duty alert will last for one year unless you ask to have it removed sooner.  If your deployment exceeds one year you may place another alert.

 

Amendments to the Fair Crediting Reporting Act allow you to place the active duty alert.  To place the alert or remove it, just call the toll free number of one of the nationwide consumer reporting companies, and they are Equifax, Experian, or Trans Union.  These reporting companies will ask for meaningful proof of identity and could include your Social Security number, your name, address and other identifying information.



Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; quifax dot com

Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); experian dot com

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; transunion dot com



 

 

You only need to contact one of the above companies to place your alert because the company you call is required to contact the other two.  The other two will now place their own alerts on their version of your credit report.  Contact information could change before your alert expires and then you would have to update it.  When the active duty alert is in place, your name gets removed from the nationwide consumer reporting companies’ marketing lists for pre-screened or preapproved offers of credit and insurance, for two years. 

You may ask to have your name placed on the lists, if you want, before deployment.  Please realize that your friends and family know for quite some time that your going to be deployed and one of them could, without knowing it, say something that gets back to an identity thief.  Imagine what the thief could do with your identity while you’re gone for an entire year.  Protect your identity, because identity theft is real and growing in America.

Do you want to learn about Identity Theft Prevention & Identity Theft Protection. Stop Identity Theft with LifeLock. LifeLock can guarantee identity theft never happens to you. To see how lifelock identity theft protection works

 



By: Randy Vezina

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The term “bot” is for robot.  Not the kind of robot you have seen in movies and television shows (does anyone remember ‘Lost In Space’?) or the one at the car assembly plant.  Bots are now one of the most complex types of crimeware on the Internet and therefore a significant tool for identity theft.  Bots are a lot like worms and Trojans, except that they can perform a wide variety of automated tasks on behalf of their master who is usually located far, far away.

Bots can perform nasty tasks like sending spam that can blast a Web site right off the internet when the spam is part of a coordinated “denial of service” attack.  A bot infected computer does the work for its master and that machine is known as a “zombie”.  Bots can enter your computer in several ways.  They are able to search the internet for vulnerable and un-protected (Nawaz, please link to Symantec) computers and inject the infection.  After infecting the machine they immediately report back to their master.

The bots objective now is to stay hidden until their master awakens them and assigns a task.  Bots are so silent that the victim does not know of their existence until the Internet Service Provider notifies you that your computer has been spamming other Internet users.  There are times when the bot will actually clean up an infected computer so that it will not get bumped off the victims machine by another identity thieves bot.  Bots can also infect by being downloaded by a Trojan, installed by a malicious Web site or emailed directly to you from an existing infected computer.

Bots never work alone because they are part of a network of infected computers called a “botnet”.  Botnets are created by identity thieves/attackers who repeatedly infect victim’s computers using one or several of the techniques already mentioned.  Each zombie machine is controlled by a master computer called the command and control server.  The cybercriminals/identity thieves manage their botnets and instruct their army of zombie computers from their command and control centre.  Typically, a botnet is composed of a large number of victimized machines that stretch across the entire planet, from China to the U.S.  Some botnets have a few hundred or few thousand computers; others have tens and even hundreds of thousands of zombies at their command.

 

Do you want to learn about Identity Theft Prevention & Identity Theft Protection. Stop Identity Theft with LifeLock. LifeLock can guarantee identity theft never happens to you. To see how lifelock identity theft protection works



By: Randy Vezina

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Identity theft has become a multi-million dollar crime that affects many people throughout the world. While most people understand how serious this can be, many underestimate how common this problem is and dont realize that they could easily be one of the millions affected. As with all things in life, there is no guarantee that something bad cant happen to a good person but protecting yourself means that you must understand why you and your family need protection, how programs such as LifeLock work, and whether you really need to utilize a program like this at all. This article will explore the issue of identity theft and how the LifeLock program may help to protect you.

While identity theft continues to grow as a crime of choice for many criminals, the exact statistics are hard to pinpoint due to the differing methods that identity thiefs use. 2004 statistics stated that 9.3 million Americans suffered some sort of identity theft. Many identity theft criminals will abuse your personal information until your credit, good name, and social standings are completely destroyed. Even though federal law protects people from having to pay off bills due to fraud, the burden of proof it is up to the victim and clearing everything up after becoming a victim of identity theft can take, on average, 600 hours spread out over several years. To give you an idea of how this crime has escalated, this average of 600 hours is up from 170 hours from only a few years ago. If you become a victim of identity theft, your ability to purchase a home or car, get bank accounts and credit cards, and sometimes your ability to obtain gainful employment can be greatly hindered. While going through the process of restoring their life, an identity theft victim can also expect to spend around $1,500 in out of pocket expenses, not to mention the wage losses they may incur if they are required to take time off from work.

Anti-identity theft programs, such as LifeLock, specialize in preventing identity theft. LifeLock is said to stop junk mail, pre-approved credit card offers, and takes a proactive stance versus the normal reactive method that they claim most companies use. LifeLock states that its program will contact you before your credit is tarnished while most other programs only contact you after the fact. The LifeLock program takes steps so that your credit and personal identification is continuously monitored meaning that you are notified whenever there is any suspicious activity with your credit, social security number, and bank accounts. One problem with this method is that you, as well as thieves, may find it difficult to secure credit but LifeLock states that this is necessary to protect your credit and that they will be available to speak with any creditor you are having difficulties with.

With all these claims, you may be wondering how the LifeLock anti-identity theft program works. LifeLock states that it will contact the four major credit bureaus and submit a 90 day fraud alert in your name which means that nobody, including you, will be able to obtain credit without sending an alert. When someone sets up a fraud alert with a credit reporting agency, the alert will automatically expire in 90 days but LifeLock states that it will automatically renew the alert before it expires and you will be continuously protected. LifeLock also provides you a copy of your credit report four times a year and monitors for any new bank accounts set up in your name. If you fully understand the dangers of identity theft and realize that you could be a victim, you may well be wondering how to join such a program and if you really need to.

Joining LifeLock requires no contract so you may cancel at any time if you are not completely satisfied. This program appears to be relatively inexpensive at $10 a month or $100 per year for adults and $25 a year for your children. You may be wondering why you would want to register your children with LifeLock but the fact of the matter is that children under 18 are great targets for identity theft thieves because nearly any child living in the United States has a social security number that an identity theft thief can steal and any suspicious activity will normally not be caught until the child reaches the age of 18. You may be wondering if a program such as LifeLock is really necessary or if you can take steps on your own to protect yourself. The truth is that you can do all of the things that LifeLock does on your own for free but doing so will eat up your resources, time, and leave you wondering if the steps you took will be effective. LifeLock claims that it offers a service of convenience, eliminating the hassle of you dealing with the details, and eliminating the stress of not knowing if you are truly safe. LifeLock also offers the advantage of acting in your behalf or hiring someone to represent you if the program fails and you actually do become a victim of identity theft.

If the thought of having your identity stolen concerns you, as it should, then you should take steps to reduce the probability of it happening. Whether you decide to take care of this on your own or obtain the service of an anti-identity theft program is up to you but reviews indicate that the LifeLock program does work and has helped a lot of people. Whatever you decide, please take some type of action to protect yourself because identity theft continues to grow and is indeed a huge problem that may very well affect you sometime in the future.

By: Rick Churchill

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Today, Identity fraud has become one of the most common thefts of the decade - It has been featured in different kinds of magazines and Television shows. It seems like each year the amount of cases being published increase drastically.

In America alone, over 27 million cases are being filed each year and it is still constantly increasing. It is also due to the fact that slowly most of the purchases are done through information - usually credit cards are the ones with high risk, since if they know all about your personal information they can easily use your card to purchase over the internet.

Now, in order to prevent Identity fraud I have listed the essential things you can do to prevent this from happening to you and your family. Keep in mind that if you follow these things you will prevent identity theft at least 90% of the time. So please take note of the information I am about to share with you.

1. Information Awareness

Now this is very essential, you should be extremely wary of the amount of information you are giving away to the public. It can be on the internet or hard copies of your identification documents.

So in order to be aware of the situation you just have to limit the amount of information you give out, especially on the internet. Don’t publish all of your information online.

Another thing is you should not allow anyone to copy or borrow your identification documents without proper reason.

Plus, always deal business with an official sanction of a company - Do not try to deal with individuals that don’t seem to have any official identifications, you can also check the person by calling up the company.

Shred any financial papers you receive before disposing of them in the trash. This includes any solicitation notices that you may receive for any credit cards or mail from other financial institutions.

Lastly, don’t bring your Social Security Card (or Identification number) with you unless it’s absolutely important.

2. Report Odd Credit Information

This is an extremely important part of preventing identity fraud. Most of the time, people who are involved in the cases think that they could be subjected to identity fraud problems, unfortunately they don’t follow their gut instinct to check.

The telltale signs are monthly expenses that show up in your credit card payment but they don’t provide any form of billing and check your credit card transactions to make sure that all transactions are made by you and if there is a discrepancy, immediately call the company to stop any fraud from continuing further.

And lastly, check your credit report at least once a year to make sure your information (and credit standing) is correct.

That’s why it is essential that you exercise these tips and relate them to your friends and family to prevent any of identity theft/fraud problem in the future.



By: Bernard Pragides

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Medical identity theft, by definition, is what results when a thief steals someone else’s social security number or health insurance information in order to obtain medical benefits of their own, particularly in the form of hospital visits and prescription drugs. The two facets of medical identity theft involve financial breaches of security and healthcare fraud. Long-term detrimental effects can easily result from this increasingly prevalent type of identity theft.

Medical identity theft is not as easy to detect or reverse as are the more common forms of identity fraud. This type of identity theft has left victims with tainted health records, medical histories, and diagnoses. Victims may receive bills for medications, tests and even surgeries that they never received. In order to ensure your own adequate identity theft protection, always be on the look out for medical service bills, records and notations that are not and were never applicable to your own history. If at any time you receive a bill for a service you never received, or you’re asked questions regarding an unknown medical condition, you’ve probably been victimized. Some victims of medical identity theft have even received faulty blood transfusions due to their records indicating the wrong blood type. So not only can this crime ruin your credit, it can also be potentially life-threatening.

Thieves often fail to pay their shares of insurance deductibles and co-pays, leaving their victims to receive credit reports detailing unrecognizable medical debts. Having a working knowledge of identity theft prevention techniques will help you protect yourself from this damaging crime. It is estimated that 1 in 6 Americans don’t have insurance, making it very tempting for some people to engage in medical identity theft, especially when emergency situations arise. If, heaven forbid, someone uses your personal data in an emergency care facility, they are very likely to get away with it as these facilities cannot refuse care and are less likely to catch the error in the first place.

To date, there are no government statistics as to the number of medical identity fraud cases occurring annually in the United States, but insurance providers and hospitals agree that this type of theft is presenting itself more and more. Approximately 250,000 Americans have been victims of medical identity theft thus far, according to the World Privacy Forum. If you think your medical records and insurance data are safe, never underestimate a thief’s ability to get their hands on your information. Because insurance companies share patient information, just because you clear up a tarnished medical history does not mean you’re always protected should you decide to switch to another provider.

Should a medical identity thief ever use your good name to seek treatment, you could be refused insurance coverage later–depending on the treatment they sought. It’s no secret that insurance agencies can and will refuse coverage to people with histories of certain drug use or pre-existing conditions. Here are a few medical identity theft protection tips for you and your loved ones to keep in mind:

• Any notices from your insurance carrier should be opened immediately. If you’re ever informed of or billed for treatment you didn’t receive, dispute it right away. Always shred these documents before throwing them in the trash.

• Be diligent about checking your credit report–this is important for any type of identity theft prevention. Strange medical bills need to be disputed with credit reporting agencies, as well as your insurance company.

• If you receive mail from a doctor’s office or hospital where you haven’t been a patient, don’t just assume it’s junk. Open these immediately, as they could be data theft notices or bills for services to which you weren’t privy. Let credit agencies know so they can put fraud alerts on your file. Also let your insurance company know right away.

• Suspect that you’re a victim of Medicare/Medicaid fraud? Call 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477), contact the Department of Health and Human Services at 1-800-368-1019 or go to their website at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/.

• Think you might have been the victim of medical identity theft? File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission ( http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft ) by visiting their website or calling their Identity Theft Hotline toll-free at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338).



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Protect your kids from the risks associated with identity theft. Children often fall prey to identity fraud, and the numbers of young victims grows every year, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). There are several simple tips you can use to protect kids from identity theft.

Why Kids Are Targeted by Identity Thieves

Kids are easy targets for identity thieves. By law, children can’t apply for credit cards, loans or other lines of credit until they are 18. That gives identity thieves many opportunities to steal a child’s identity and use it freely to open lines of credit. In addition to random strangers stealing a child’s identity, unfortunately, unscrupulous family members also often target them.

Children Feel Effects of Identity Theft When They Venture Out in the World

Children who are identity theft victims feel the pain inflicted by the crime when they try to establish a credit history. Applying for a loan or a credit card, children and their families are often shocked to learn that their child has a poor credit history, even though they’ve never had a line of credit. A poor credit score can prevent kids from getting the jobs they want, obtaining credit cards, loans and more. Although justice is on their side, it can take years to clean up a lifetime of identity theft.

Protect Your Kids from Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft

Adults can protect kids from identity theft by taking a few safety precautions. Shredding paperwork from doctors and other entities that list a child’s Social Security number or date of birth can help protect children from identity fraud. Credit card and loan offers that arrive in the mail addressed to children should be addressed with the company sending the offer, so they know that they are sending items to minor children. Social Security cards and other personal information about children should be safely stored to avoid the risk of identity fraud.

Children Identity Fraud Repair: What to Do if the Worst Should Happen

If a child becomes a victim of identity fraud, there are a few things you can do to help them repair their credit history and regain their identity. Their Social Security number should be changed and a police report should be filed immediately. Credit card companies, lenders and collections agencies associated with the phony identity should be notified immediately about the identity theft.

Reduce the risk of identity theft with credit monitoring . Credit monitoring provides an added layer of protection against identity fraud with up to date information about credit scores and details of unusual activities on a credit report.



By: Lisa Nichols

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Are you thinking of subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company? Given the growing crime rate of identity theft, it is definitely wise to take this particular action in protecting yourself from identity theft. Here’s what you should know before subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company.

An Identity Theft Protection company usually offers the following services:

1. Tracking of credit report, police report and medical records. Whenever your credit card is used or whenever your social security number is included in an application form, your Identity Theft Protection company will notify you. If the transaction was unauthorized, the company would then make a trace to find out who tried to use your identity. The company will also track down any unknown addresses that are affiliated with your name and will also take a look at the DMV records in your state.

2. Alerts in case of any suspicious activity. Once detected, your account will be frozen and you will have to confirm if it is indeed unauthorized. If it is unauthorized, your account will continue be frozen and the company will notify the authorities. If it is authorized however, your account will be reactivated immediately. This is very helpful as normally the only way you would know of this is if you are already harassed by collection agencies or when you try to get credit only to find your credit rating has been thrashed.

3. Assistance in the process of clearing credit. Should the thieves be successful in using your identity, the company will help you with the police regarding warrants, as well as assist you in getting collection agencies to stop harassing you for debts that aren’t yours.

An Identity Theft Protection company offers various plans:

The basic plan usually covers tracking of your credit report and alerts in case of suspicious transactions. You will also receive notifications every time a new account is opened or a new inquiry appears on your report. Given the rise of competition in lending, note that many lenders offer this basic plan for free.

Meanwhile, in a more detailed plan, you can receive monthly reports (as compared to yearly reports in a basic plan) and counseling services. Some Identity Theft Protection companies also cover out-of-pocket fees in case you become an identity theft victim. This detailed plan usually charges a reasonable fee of $100 per individual or $150 per household annually.

There are also comprehensive plans available which covers each and every cost the consumer incurs through identity theft. Obviously, this service would warrant higher fees.

A few examples of top-notch Identity Theft Protection Companies include LifeLock Identity Theft Protection and Equifax Credit Monitoring Service. Note that Lifelock offers $1,000,000 Identity Theft Protection Service Guarantee.

Subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company is just one of the ways you can protect yourself from identity theft. There are other simple steps you can take like being more cautious in all your transactions and being more careful with regards to your personal information. You certainly can’t go wrong with taking extra precautions when it comes to protecting yourself from identity theft.



By: Bernard Pragides

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A Recent survey released by Ipsos global research firm and conducted on behalf of ING polled American responses regarding events that would have an extremely negative impact on a family’s financial security and longevity. The survey revealed that out of 15 different scenarios the two that topped the list were “fraud or identity theft resulting in your loss of savings or assets”, and “your death or the death of a spouse or partner”.

 

71% of Participants Surveyed Claim to Have Life Insurance: However, a LIMRA survey determined those same insured adults are more likely to have only a group life insurance policy obtained through their employer and were only covered by the smallest amount of life insurance. In fact 56% of married adults with children believe they are inadequately insured. These studies clearly show Americans are aware they need insurance when questioned but are uncertain about how much they actually need and honestly admit with regard to obtaining it that they “just never got around to it.” and “are uncertain how much life insurance we need”.

Simple Steps to Insure Adequate Coverage During the Stages Of Life

Life Insurance When you are single: Your need for life insurance is really not crucial as a single adult. Just like homeowners, renters or auto insurance the sole purpose is to protect against the risk of a catastrophic loss and in the event you passed away as a single adult with no dependants or major liabilities; your passing would not create a financial burden for others.

Life Insurance for recently married couples: This is usually a time when two adults should consider your life insurance needs. At this stage of life newlyweds are typically starting working careers and acquiring joint liabilities such as a home and other debts. This can be completed by analyzing any coverage you may have with your employer and then supplementing that with either an inexpensive term life policy or mortgage protection insurance policy which may include additional mortgage payment riders for short term disability typically covering your mortgage payment for up to 24 months. Disabilities account for a larger percentage of hardships than death. If you do not yet have children then simply enough to cover your biggest obligations should be sufficient. Term and mortgage life provide the most affordable options for young and healthy individuals.

 Life Insurance and a Growing family: As you family grows you will definitely need to reevaluate your current coverage. You may have already placed a policy on you and your spouse at this stage, but with a growing family this is when you may be most vulnerable. If one of the income earners were to die the strain on the remaining spouse could be devastating financially. Even adding a shorter term policy for 10 or 15 years to your current coverage would be smart until your children have become financially independent. This is an excellent way to insure you or your spouse and children are well protected.

Employment, Career and or Spousal Changes and Life Insurance: Your employer sponsored plans may be canceled when you leave that job.  Just like employer health insurance you may need to review your policy and either obtain group coverage at the new employer or increase your current supplemental coverage. Other reasons to review your coverage may include starting your own business, divorce, new marriages, hazardous occupation changes, quitting smoking or when one of the spouses stops working to care for children. All of these could affect the amounts of coverage needed, the cost incurred or the beneficiaries.

 

Life Insurance and the Golden Years: This is time to evaluate perceived needs. If seniors have already adequately planned for retirement they may need little if any insurance since their children are grown. Whole life policies can be a good choice for small amounts of coverage for seniors who may feel the need for some additional protection to cover special circumstances such as final expenses, burial, assisted living, long term care needs and provide income to the living spouse if the two were on a fixed income. Whole life can be purchased in small amounts without a medical exam for seniors who may have health conditions or are too old to qualify for term coverage. If policies are purchased early enough in the retirement stage the money can potentially accumulate cash value that could be borrowed in an emergency situation or simply serve as a living benefit income stream.

 

The 5 stages are simply a guide ,most importantly remember to take a look at your coverage to survey the risk of loss and if you have dependents and liabilities and the impact of death or disability would cause a great hardship then you need life insurance. Pick a coverage amount that is reasonably within your budget even if it is less than ideal.



By: Christopher Beard

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Insurance marketers become inspired geniuses when it comes to thinking up policies to pitch to consumers. Here is the lowdown on some newer types - and if they are worthwhile…

POLICIES WORTH HAVING

1. Trip insurance: Many people don’t understand that their health insurance may not cover them if they become ill when traveling overseas. Trip insurance reimburses you for emergency medical expenses and a medical evacuation. It also covers cancellation or interruption of a trip due to your illness or bad weather, such as a hurricane or tornado, as well as luggage that is lost or damaged in transit.

Coverage typically runs between $100 and $200 per trip, depending on the destination and the traveler’s age.

2. Pet health insurance: This insurance is becoming cost-effective as more advanced and expensive treatments are made available for pets. A pacemaker for a dog could cost several thousand dollars.

Ask your veterinarian about the best policies. You can get the coverage for dogs, cats and other critters. Premiums can run $200 to $1,000, depending on the pet’s age, breed and where you live.

3. Credit card surveillance: Although it isn’t really insurance; credit card monitoring protection through your bank card issuer ensures that you are notified of any change in your credit profile - unusual spending, card applications or changes of address.

Cost: $30 to $75 a year.

New trend: Identity theft insurance. A credit card company will protect you against phony charges - you are liable for only up to $50. But they won’t help you fix the mess that identity theft often creates. Identity theft insurance reimburses you for expenses such as lost pay while you are straightening things out.

According to industry research, the average ID theft victim spends hundreds of hours restoring his/her financial reputation. If you have credit card surveillance, you probably don’t need personal identity theft coverage unless you have many cardholders in your household or business. Annual coverage costs vary. Check with your credit card issuer or insurance company. A growing number of employers also are offering identity theft insurance as a perk.

POLICIES TO AVOID

1. Terrorism insurance: This insurance started to appear after 9/11 to play into Americans’ fears of a terrorist attack. Insurance that focuses strictly on terrorism is geared toward businesses and covers such costs as relocating a firm or replacing damaged equipment. Even then, business-interruption insurance is a better option - it also covers fires, floods, etc.

2. Water line protection: Very few people need this niche coverage, which pays for damage caused by leaks in the water service line that runs from the curb valve into the home in towns that have public water. The coverage is worth considering only if your neighbors have experienced problems due to age of the pipes or geological issues.

Also: Check for duplicate coverage.

Example: One of my friends had to have his house jacked up to replace the water pipes below it, but he didn’t need water line insurance because the $11,000 cost was partially covered by his homeowner’s insurance.

3. Accidental death and dismemberment insurance: This insurance pays out if you are killed accidentally. Don’t waste your money on it. Regular life insurance covers you when you die.

4. Disease-specific coverage, such as cancer insurance, also should be avoided.



By: Ranju Kumar

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Have you ever worked out how much you spend on insurance? Try totting up your premiums - we suspect you’ll be surprised! You’ll be even more surprised to discover that there’s a probability that you’ve also duplicated some of the cover you’re paying for. Cut the duplication out and you’re certain to save money.

Lots of people have insurance cover for legal expenses, loss of income, theft, even death, without even realising it. This can arise because many of us don’t fully understand what’s covered by the policies we have, especially if the policies had been arranged for us by financial advisers and brokers.

In a recent survey, The Financial Services Authority (FSA) discovered that optional extras such as breakdown recovery and legal expense cover, were frequently added to car insurance without checking whether the policyholder was already covered. It’s also not uncommon to find that people with Permanent Medical Insurance have duplicated their cover via payment protection policies taken out specifically to cover their monthly payments on mortgages, loans and credit cards. The point is that if they claim on their Permanent Medical Insurance, their payout will be reduced because part of their claim is also insured through their payment protection policies - so their payment protection insurance is really a waste of money.

The Financial Ombudsman has confirmed this saying, “People often contact us when they find themselves over-insured. They often do not realise until they make a claim that they have been paying for a policy that provides very little, if any, benefit”.

There’s also ample of evidence that some of us simply don’t understand what we’re actually insured for! For example, take the case of Amanda Lariviere from West Yorkshire. Amanda, aged 42 and mother of two, is recovering from ovarian cancer and had an allergic reaction to chemotherapy which kept her off work. Out of the blue she received an unwelcome tax bill so she decided to visit her building society to find out if she could raise some cash by re-mortgaging. The adviser at the Society wisely asked her to bring with her, her life insurance policies so that they could be used to support her re-mortgage application. So imagine Amanda’s surprise and delight when the adviser explained that her policies with Norwich Union and Scottish Provident, which had been costing her £80 per month, were not life insurance policies at all - they were actually critical illness policies with a combined insured value of £100,000. She was able to claim on these policies and the £100,000 she received was sufficient to pay off most of her mortgage and her tax bill!

Here’s some typical insurance policies to check out.

Critical Illness Insurance

Critical Illness insurance is often sold as an optional extra within a life insurance policy. In fact that’s usually the cheapest way to buy it. However, some enlightened employers already provide critical illness insurance as part of their employment package. Ask your employer if you are one of the lucky ones!

Life Insurance

Some employers also provide life insurance cover within their pension schemes. It’s called death-in-service benefit and typically pays out a tax-free lump sum worth 3 to 4 times the annual salary if the employee were to die whilst employed by the company.

Permanent Medical Insurance and Payment Protection Insurance

Permanent Medical Insurance (PMI) is also known by some people as Income Protection Insurance. PMI pays out the insured monthly sum if the policyholder is off work due to illness due to one of a wide range of specified illnesses - and some policies will even pay out during redundancy. PMI policies pay out indefinitely or at least until the policy comes to the end of its insured term.

Few appreciate is that PMI actually eliminates the need for Payment Protection insurance - the sort of insurance frequently sold alongside loans, credit cards and mortgages to maintain monthly payments if you are off sick, have an accident or are made redundant. Indeed, you can’t make a claim against more than one policy for the same event - only one policy will agree to pay out! (All the others will reduce their payouts to the value of the money you are receiving from your other policies)

Mobile Phone Insurance Normally mobile phone policies have a hefty excess - rarely less than £50. You could be better saving the insurance and changing to a pay-as-you-go plan.

Legal Expense Insurance

Insurance for legal expenses relating to disputes concerning your home will usually be included free of charge within your home and contents insurance policy. Most car insurance policies provide legal expense cover as an optional extra - others even include it as standard. Some trade unions and professional associations sometimes include access to legal advice as part of their service to their members. Check these out before you pay for more cover!

Insurance for ID Theft According to “Which”, the consumer magazine, you are only legally responsible for the first £50 if your identity is stolen. Is it worth insuring for a £50 risk? Incidentally, my bank has just given me this insurance for free!

Automatic cover for credit card purchases Many credit cards automatically insure your purchases for a set period of time after you’ve shopped. Barclaycard is a good example. If you used Barclaycard to buy something valued between £50 and £2,000, you’re insured against theft and accidental damage for the next 60 days.



By: Michael Challiner

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