The many uses for and conveniences of technology continue to expand. Technology has blended our identities into the digital realm, making our information more accessible to criminals. To combat the theft of our identities, we need to remain vigilant and continually monitor our information. The difficulty in monitoring is that there is simply too much to look through on our own.
Technology exists that can scan the internet for our information and monitor our accounts and credit for us. In Allstate Identity Protection vs. IdentityGuard, we’ll examine these identity protection technology suites to help you decide which provider might be right for you.
Allstate vs. Identity Guard: Comparison
WHAT YOU GET | ALLSTATE | IDENTITY GUARD |
---|---|---|
Coverage | ||
Insurance | ||
Identity Theft Protection | ||
Identity Restoration | ||
Credit Monitoring |
QUICK FACE-OFF
Similarities
Differences
Allstate Identity Protection Features and Services
Coverage
With Allstate ID Protection (AIP), you can cover up to 4 adult family members and unlimited children, provided that you financially support them. Adults and dependent children over 18 must enroll and verify their information independently if they are covered under your plan.
Insurance
Allstate Identity Protection offers identity theft protection insurance covers up to $1 million in fees associated with identity theft. Lawyers, experts, replacement documents, or any other cost related to theft is included. Additionally, AIP covers any stolen funds up to $500,000.
Identity Theft Protection and Restoration
Your financial accounts are monitored for activity to alert you if you did not initiate it. If you become a victim of identity theft, AIP’s restoration experts do everything that doesn’t have to be done explicitly by you, speeding up your recovery time and allowing you to get back to your life.
Continuous monitoring of your identity allows AIP to store what is a picture of your identity that enables them to recover your identity more quickly than if they had to reconstruct your identity from scratch.
Credit Monitoring
Theft protection is provided by monitoring your credit file for attempts to access your credit. You receive notices if lenders initiate credit inquiries or if your file changes.
Plans and Pricing
Essentials Plan
AIPs lowest-tier plan is comprehensive with insurance, identity, essential financial monitoring, web scanning, and credit monitoring. Identity monitoring is included in this basic plan, enhancing your recovery if you become a victim. The individual plan costs $9.99 per month, and the Allstate Identity Protection family plan costs $18.99 per month.
Premier Plan
The Premier plan adds financial account and investment monitoring, social media account features, and tax fraud help to the Essentials plan. You’ll receive front of the line privileges with the Premier plan. The plan runs $17.99 per month for an individual and $34.99 for a family.
Pros and Cons
PROS
CONS
Find out more unique features of Infoarmor.
Identity Guard Features and Services
Coverage
IdentityGuard coverage extends to individuals and families, with protection added for children at an affordable cost. Most notable of its services is the risk management report, which analyzes your accounts and identity security and indicates the risks that you’re most vulnerable to.
The lowest-tiered plan includes web monitoring, data breach notices, and high-risk transaction alerts. Each plan builds on the lowest plan coverage by adding credit monitoring and different financial account monitoring levels and alerts.
Insurance
Each of the IdentityGuard identity theft protection plans provides up to $1 million in coverage for expenses related to identity theft. Expenses can include legal fees, stolen funds, theft expert fees, lost wages (5 weeks only), child care, and travel expenses.
Identity Theft Protection and Restoration
If your identity is stolen, IdentityGuard’s customer care team guides through the steps of restoring your identity. The Ultra package is the only one that provides more assistance in restoring your identity.
Credit Monitoring
Identity Guard credit monitoring is the backbone of protection. There is no known method of preventing identity theft, so we are limited to alerts and taking action. Credit fraud via opening new accounts is one of the most used identity theft tactics.
The lowest-tier plan from IdentityGuard doesn’t include credit monitoring, while the upper 2 do. With credit monitoring, you receive alerts when attempts are made to access your credit.
Find out more about Identity Guard credit monitoring.
Pricing and Plans
Value Plan
The individual plan costs $8.99 per month and $90 annually. You can select an IdentityGuard family plan from the Value plan for $14.99 per month or $150 annually.
Total Plan
The Total plan adds credit protection to the Value plan for $19.99 per month or $200.04 annually. You can select a family plan from the Total Plan for $29.99 per month or $300 per year.
Ultra Plan
The Ultra plan, weighing in with 18 features, comes with a price tag of $29.99 per month or $300 annually for an individual. The Ultra family plan costs $39.99 per month or $399.96 per year.
Pros and Cons
PROS
CONS
Conclusion
With so many identity theft protection services to choose from, it is challenging to decide which one is right for you. You have to determine which providers have what you need, the price they charge, and the benefits you receive for your money. Allstate Identity Protection has some excellent features but won’t cover your entire family if you have more than 4 members, which means you’ll have to purchase extra plans. Any additional charges such as this put even more of a burden on already financially stretched families.
We don’t particularly like the fact that Allstate requires additional credit coverage for a spouse or domestic partner when IdentityGuard offers a family plan for a few dollars more. It also seems as if IdentityGuard is more concerned about the children’s credit since there are affordable plans available for children.
IdentityGuard provides complete, automated identity protection services with the most features of the two compared here. You might pay a few dollars more, but the 3-bureau credit monitoring, family protection, and financial guards that IdentityGuard puts in place make this our choice between AIP and IdentityGuard.
There simply isn’t enough time to work, manage a family, and rest in a day. The daily automated identity scanning and monitoring from IdentityGuard give you the security you need.
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About the Author
Keith Morris is a 20+ year veteran of the security game, with the knowledge and experience to set you on the right track toward personal safety and security. His firm is committed to giving you the tools and know-how to combat any threat to your safety.