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Insurance policies offered to cover expenses of ID theft, though some question their worth
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The thieves who stole Amy Jo Sutterluety’s identity spent $70,000 in her name. They also took her time: a month to close 15 fraudulent accounts.
Insurance policies to cover her out-of-pocket expenses for phone calls and legal battles didn’t exist back in 1998 — when she was victimized — though she wish they had.
“Having been through it, I would say it’s well worth the $25 rider,” said Sutterluety, an associate professor at Baldwin-Wallace College.
Still, experts have mixed feelings about the growing number of companies that offer such coverage.
Travelers Insurance of Hartford, Conn., first offered an identity theft policy in 1999. Cincinnati Insurance Cos. and Columbus-based Grange Insurance are among those that since have added the coverage, usually as a rider to a homeowner’s policy.
