Identity theft insurance in North Carolina

What identity theft insurance covers

Identity theft affects millions of Americans each year. The financial and time cost of recovering can be significant. Identity theft insurance helps cover the costs of restoring your identity and credit.

• •Lost wages: time off work to deal with the identity theft
• •Legal fees: attorneys needed to clear fraudulent accounts or criminal records
• •Notary and mailing costs
• •Credit monitoring services: some policies include monitoring
• •Phone and travel costs related to recovery

What it doesn't cover

The actual fraudulent charges. Your credit card company and bank are typically responsible for those under federal law. Identity theft insurance covers the cost of recovery, not the theft itself.

How it's offered

Most commonly as an endorsement on your homeowner's or renters policy, usually $25 to $50 per year for $15,000 to $25,000 in coverage. Also available as standalone policies with more robust monitoring and recovery services.

Full-service identity protection vs. insurance: services like LifeLock, Aura, and Identity Guard combine monitoring with insurance and human case managers who handle the recovery work for you. These comprehensive services cost $100 to $350 per year. They're not insurance in the traditional sense but provide broader support, proactive monitoring plus hands-on recovery assistance.

Is it worth it?

The endorsement on your home policy ($25 to $50 per year) is low-cost and worth having. Full-service monitoring services are more expensive but provide monitoring and hands-on recovery assistance that insurance alone doesn't. NC ranks in the mid-range nationally for identity theft reports, and data breaches from healthcare systems, retail chains, and financial institutions affect NC residents regularly.

Cooper's take

Frequently asked questions