Been The Victim Of Identity Theft? Your Home Insurance Is Standing By

Nobody really thinks it'll happen to them. Identity theft is something that happens to people on the news, people who aren't careful enough when they're keeping track of their credit and social security cards. People who make foolish purchases online without looking for added security. What no one ever tells you is that that's exactly what the 10 million Americans who found themselves the victims of identity theft thought too-and years later, most of them are still trying to get their lives back.

The good news is, your home insurance is there to help you pick up the pieces.

No, your home insurance isn't going to help pay off the bills that "somebody" who pretended to be you ran up when they were running around online with your credit card. The good news is, most credit card companies are very familiar with credit card fraud. Their credit inspectors see it every day. That's why most of them have policies in place to help protect you from having to pay more than $50-100 to take care of any fraudulent charges-only a fraction of the money they probably spent without your knowledge or consent.

Paying off your extra bills isn't the only thing you have to worry about when your identity's been stolen, however. The process of getting your identity back is a long and arduous one, and often more expensive than you might think. That's where most home owners insurance companies step in. They'll help pay for:

1)Lost wages. How many government agencies do you know that are open past five and on the weekends? Few to none. How many of those do you think you have to visit to try and reclaim your identity after it's been stolen? A lot. The average victim of identity theft has to spend 172 hours, usually weekday hours, speaking to officials and making phone calls before they can get their identity back. That's almost a month's worth of missed work.

Where would you be without an entire month's paycheck? Could you pay your bills? Your home insurance can help make sure you don't have to worry about it.

2)Long distance phone calls and postage. Calling Washington from California can get expensive! So can mailing documents from coast to coast. Most home owners insurance companies (those that offer identity theft insurance) will step in and help with at least part of the cost to help speed up the process of helping you get back your life.

3)Legal fees. What are you going to do if the person who stole your identity goes out and commits a crime more serious than credit card fraud? You're going to need a good lawyer on your side, and those don't come cheap. Your home owners insurance can help you cover your legal fees so you've got a best-odds chance of walking away a winner.

Not all home owners insurance companies offer identity theft coverage as part of their standard package, but this is one case where an ounce of prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure-and a few extra dollars each month can go a long way toward saving you money if you ever find someone else walking around in your shoes.