Identity Theft Protection: The Must-have Voluntary Benefit

Source: https://www.voluntarybenefitsmagazine.com/

Q&A with James Rosseau, President of LegalShield Business Solutions 

With the dramatic rise in identity theft, including severe retail data breaches and billions of compromised online credentials, it’s no surprise that interest in identity theft protection is increasing just as quickly. Many companies have taken notice and now offer protection as a voluntary benefit. To learn more about this topic and its merits for employers and employees, staff writer, Daniel Pyne sat down with James Rosseau of LegalShield.To download the PDF version, click here.

 

Daniel Pyne: James, give us some background on LegalShield.

James Rosseau: LegalShield is a pioneer in the pre-paid legal service category. In 1969 our founder, Harland Stonecipher, was in a car accident that wasn’t his fault, yet he had to deplete his life savings to defend himself. After that, he was determined to make legal protection accessible to everyone. We’ve been providing legal protection to individuals, families and businesses for over 40 years. Today, thanks to LegalShield, four million people have experienced attorneys on their side without worrying about costly hourly rates. Moving into identity theft protection was a natural progression for us. Like Mr. Stonecipher’s experience years ago, identity theft victims have to spend an exorbitant amount of time and money to get their lives back to normal. And we want to help them.

 

D.P. Clearly, LegalShield set the standard for affordable legal protection. But why should people choose LegalShield as their identity theft protection provider?

J.R. Simply put, we offer comprehensive identity theft protection and restoration plans that cover your employees and their families. And think about it, identity theft is a real scourge in today’s society. It affects millions each year. In fact, it’s been the number one consumer complaint filed with the FTC for 14 straight years. Criminals are getting smarter and they’re not going away. So who do you want protecting you? You want a company that’s more than a website. You want an established institution with the legal know how to really understand all the potential threats, how to reduce the risk of these threats and how to restore any damage done. LegalShield has the expertise to do that.

 

D.P. Can you explain the services offered?

J.R. We offer identity theft protection at two levels—Identity Theft and Identity Theft Premium. Both offer secure web access to an up-to-date credit report, detailed analysis of your personal credit score and email alerts concerning any activity performed under your name. The premium level is for those who prefer additional protection. But both provide our Comprehensive Identity Restoration service which is offered exclusively through Kroll. We feel this service is crucial for any identity theft victim and it’s an advantage that comes with choosing us.

 

D.P. Do LegalShield’s identity theft protection plans offered as voluntary benefits cover spouses and dependents?

J.R. Absolutely. The plans cover the employee, the employee’s spouse and, with the included SafeGuard for Minors service, up to eight dependents under the age of 18. This is important because children are increasingly becoming victims of identity theft, with many being targeted for unused Social Security numbers. In a recent 40,000-person poll, over ten percent of children had someone else using their Social Security numbers. That’s why our SafeGuard for Minors service offers valuable credit education for children, including advice on using their Social Security numbers and other important information.

 

D.P. Why are identity theft protection plans an important voluntary benefit for companies to offer employees and their families?

J.R. As we’ve discussed, identity theft is a growing problem that affects all ages and socio-economic groups and it can lead to serious legal problems. Two out of three employees miss work to deal with legal issues. It is estimated that between 55 and 130 hours is needed by a victim of identity theft to resolve the issues affecting their personal identity. When employees have an identity theft plan, they don’t have to waste time dealing with all the hassles. And, maybe more importantly, it brings peace of mind and reduces stress. Why wouldn’t an employer want to offer that benefit to its employees?

About James: James Rosseau, President of LegalShield Business Solutions

James currently overseas LegalShields’s brokerage, affinity and small business divisions in addition to developing new, innovative channels and products.