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Modern life is tied to our electronics and our information. Our information is linked to our ability to borrow, and we need it to access our financial accounts and records. In recent years, credit has become more than the ability to borrow. It’s now an essential part of modern life. Your credit score enables you to finance a new phone, set up your home’s utilities, or rent an apartment.
Offers the most comprehensive identity theft protection and assistance. Has many more features than Experian.
The importance of credit makes our identities and information natural targets of thieves. Therefore, it is imperative to have someone monitoring your identity and information. In LifeLock vs. Equifax, we’ll compare two top companies and help you determine who has the best protection for you and your family.
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LifeLock Vs. Equifax: Head to Head Comparison
Similarities
- 1-bureau credit monitoring (Equifax Premier and Family Plan only). All LifeLock plans monitor the bureau of your choice after an identity validation process, which ensures no one is trying to use your information to monitor your credit.
- Family members can be added to policies for additional fees.
- Dark web and internet scanning to look for your instances of your information being used. If your address, Social Security number, or name is exchanged or found on the Dark Web, you’ll receive alerts so you can take action.
- All out-of-pocket expenses are covered up to $1 million by Equifax. In comparison, LifeLock covers lawyer and expert fees of up to $1 million but only reimburses stolen funds of up to $1 million in its Ultimate Plus plan.
- Receive up to $1 million in stolen fund reimbursement with either provider; however, the only package LifeLock offers with $1 million in coverage is its Ultimate Plus plan. Experian provides up to $1 million in coverage for certain out-of-pocket expenses and stolen fund reimbursement in all of its packages.
- Identity Restoration experts are included in all packages to help you with the process of recovering your identity.
- Family members are covered in specific plans by both providers. Experian offers coverage for a second adult and 4 children in their family plan; LifeLock lets you build a family plan that is right for you.
Equifax Features and Services
Coverage
Equifax has a comprehensive coverage plan. You can add one additional adult on the premier plan without a change of rates, and the Equifax Family Plan lets you add another adult and up to four children. A 6-person family is quite large by modern standards, and other identity monitoring providers charge much more for additional coverage needed by families.
Funds Replacement, Insurance, Credit
In all of their packages, Equifax covers up to $1 million in stolen funds. One caveat to this is that this amount is based on funds that are unrecovered by your financial institution. Equifax identity theft insurance covers out-of-pocket expenses such as a lawyer or expert consulting fees that arise from restoring your identity or dealing with the theft.
Your credit file from all 3 bureaus is monitored for activity, and your credit score from Equifax is as well. Any attempts to access your credit or score change results in an alert being sent to you.
ID Theft, Recovery, and Monitoring
If your identity is stolen while you have a subscription, Equifax provides ID restoration experts to help you recover your identity and assets. The internet and the dark web are scanned for your name, Social Security number, or other personally identifiable information. If your data is found anywhere, you receive notices so that you can take action.
Pros and Cons
- Only 3 packages, which makes Equifax’s services less confusing to choose from
- The Family Plan is the same as the middle plan; you can just add family members
- Identity theft insurance amount is the same across all of the packages
- The Equifax app, included with all packages, lets you lock and unlock your credit report
- Internet scanning technology consists of scanning the dark web and the internet
- 3-bureau credit file monitoring alerts you if anyone tries to access your credit
- Automatic fraud alerts notify lenders to verify identity thoroughly before extending credit
- You can check your Equifax credit score daily without affecting your score
- No data breach notifications provided if your data is stolen from a business
- Bank accounts and credit cards are monitored, but there is no option for investment monitoring
- Many of these tasks can be initiated or conducted by consumers.
- Families with more than four children can’t receive coverage for them in a single package
- Credit scores from other credit bureaus can only be checked annually
- Daily Equifax credit scores are not monitored in the lowest tier package
- Equifax credit score can only be checked daily by those who have one of the upper-tier plans
- There are no criminal records monitored for a crime committed in your name.
Plans and Pricing
- This is the most basic of the Equifax packages but provides monitoring close to everything a single person might need to have monitored. This plan runs $16.95 per month and gives you identity theft insurance of up to $1 million for stolen funds and costs incurred to deal with a theft.
- The middle of Equifax’s packages is the Premier plan, which is $19.95 per month and includes all of the family plan features except for adding a second adult or children. The included features make this one of the most attractive packages for singles.
- The Experian Family Plan costs $19.95 and adds the option of including an additional adult and up to four children.
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LifeLock Features and Services
Coverage
LifeLock provides coverage per individual. For families, this means that each adult and child needs to have their own plans. It seems expensive to purchase this much coverage, but it ensures that all members of your family receive the same amount of coverage.
For example, if you and your partner’s identities are stolen, each one of you has $1 million in lawyer and expert fees instead of splitting the fees up. You are each covered for up to $1 million in stolen funds (under the Ultimate Plus package).
Funds Replacement, Insurance, Credit
Each person has their own plan. Each individual is eligible for stolen funds insurance between $25,000 and $1 million, depending on their package. To receive any amounts, you have to have sought reimbursement from your financial institution first.
LifeLock lets you choose 1 of the 3 credit bureaus to use to monitor your credit file and sends you alerts if there is activity on your file, which is where your credit scores come from. You can only check your credit score without affecting it once a month with the Ultimate Plus Package.
ID Theft, Recovery, and Monitoring
Your identity and Social Security number are monitored to receive a notification and take action when used. If your identity is stolen, LifeLock provides each US-based member with identity restoration experts that guide them through the process of restoring their identity.
Pros and Cons
- Various accounts tailor plans to your changing needs as your life changes
- Full coverage amounts for your family
- Optional device monitoring with VPN for security and privacy
- Automatic renewal of fraud alerts keeps your fraud alert from expiring in 90 days
- The LifeLock app comes with every plan and gives you the functions purchased with your plan
- Norton Antivirus is LifeLock’s security platform of choice, giving you established security on your devices
- Add as many family members as you need to make sure everyone is covered
- 24/7 customer support is available through the included app, which can be installed on all your devices
- The top-tier package is costly and only offers additional notifications of different account activities
- If you have a large family, your subscription can become expensive
- LifeLock doesn’t prevent identity theft from occurring; it only gives you tools to help
- You can do much of this yourself, and banks are very adept at dealing with theft
- Your credit score can only be checked once a month with the most expensive package
- Signing up after you become a victim of theft doesn’t give you any benefits
- The most affordable plans don’t offer some of the necessary features, such as account monitoring
Plans and Pricing
- The Standard plan is very basic. You pay $11.99 per month and receive 1-bureau LifeLock credit monitoring and identity and Social Security number alerts.
- Under the Select plan, 2 additional features are added at the cost of $24.99. You’ll receive security for up to 5 devices such as phones, tablets, or computers and a subscription to a virtual private network (VPN) for those devices.
- The Advantage plan is where the most beneficial features are added, but they will cost you $34.99. LifeLock watches the bank account and credit card for action, and you’ll receive notifications when there are transactions made so that you’re aware of them.
- The Ultimate Plus gives you the most protection by adding more features: Unlimited devices, VPN, and antivirus security. You’ll be able to receive an annual 3-bureau credit report with your credit score and receive alerts if your investment accounts or home title are accessed.
Final Verdict – LifeLock Wins
Of these two providers, LifeLock has taken more steps to ensure that your information and accounts receive the most scrutiny. Their services provide you with the most comprehensive identity monitoring assistance between the two companies.
Identity theft protection services do not stop identity theft from occurring. The most important function these services provide is an alert when any monitored accounts or information are found to have suspicious activity. The services you pay for allow you to investigate and take quick action when you receive an alert.
It is nearly impossible to monitor all of your information and accounts by yourself. This is the service that LifeLock provides — one that looks out for you when you’re shopping online and using paperless banking services. Unless you are a computer expert, it is nearly impossible to know where to search on the dark web for your stolen information. LifeLock does it for you to give you and your loved one’s peace of mind.
While LifeLock is more expensive than Equifax, the assistance you receive is well worth the additional cost. You don’t have to split benefits between family members, and you can add as many as you want to your plan.
If you’re looking for identity theft protection and assistance services, LifeLock identity theft protection helps you keep your family safe.
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