It takes nothing more than reading, watching or listening to the news to understand that protecting privacy and identity are important. Citing research from Javelin Strategy & Research, Emily Snell, senior vice president of employee benefits solutions at InfoArmor, says, "Identity fraud is a universal problem that impacted more than 12.7 million Americans last year, costing over $16 billion."

James Rosseau, president of LegalShield Business Solutions, adds, "There's another element, which is hard to quantify, and that's the emotional stress. That involves, among other things, time away from or distractions at work. People point to this emotional stress representing another $6 billion of cost."

It's not just adults who are at risk. "Something that's not understood or at least not frequently discussed is that identity theft is starting to affect the younger population," he notes. "Parents get Social Security numbers for their children, but those numbers aren't being used until the children are older-often in their teens. Criminals prey on this information because they don't expect it to be monitored."

"It's more important than ever to be vigilant about protecting credit, identity and privacy," Snell explains. "The process to fix an identity can be time consuming and difficult for consumers to navigate on their own. Identity fraud protection provides the peace of mind that a trusted company is proactively monitoring personal information to prevent major losses from occurring."

There's a role here for agents and brokers. "Insurance agents and brokers want to help protect their clients' good names," explains Jim Wylie, business development manager-strategic partnerships at LifeLock. "Consumers are worried about protecting their identities and are seeking a trusted advisor to educate them about identity protection and how it affects their everyday life. A trusted advisor to fill this role can be one protecting someone's auto, home and life."

Protection services
According to Rosseau, there are four core benefits to identity theft products. "First is what I call 'consultation,' which addresses what people need to know and consider," he explains. "It's all about making them more aware and intelligent about protecting their activity."

Privacy monitoring, the second element, involves understanding potential usage of things such as Social Security number, driver's license and passport information, email and home address, web personas and more. The third benefit is security monitoring. "This is more about actual use of financial instruments, like bank accounts, credit cards and even health records," he points out. "Personal information housed in health records can lead to all kinds of fraud, so security is becoming increasingly important."

Fourth is restoration. "That's what takes place after an event occurs," he notes. "It involves various types of assistance customers get that help them return to where they were pre-incident." His firm recently unveiled a mobile app that brings restoration support and other services as close as the tap of a button.

"We proactively monitor identity-related events, such as new account openings and credit-related applications," explains Wylie. "We alert our members through our patented LifeLock Identity Alert system. For example, we might ask 'Did you apply for a credit account?' With a 'No' response, we'll work with the client and the service or credit provider to verify the credit account application."

Wylie points out that, unlike credit monitoring alone, identity protection services can offer a more proactive approach to helping keep a client's identity safer.

According to Snell, "InfoArmor's identity protection provides identity and credit monitoring to detect fraud quickly and in places that are most damaging, such as what we call the Underground Internet, where thieves go to buy and sell personal information. Our identity protection is unique in that we have developed our own analytics to quickly detect and alert on suspicious activity."

She says the monitoring looks for high-risk transactions, suspicious identity patterns, application submissions, unauthorized account access, fund transfers, and password resets in the locations where thieves go to buy and sell personal information.

When the systems detect suspicious activity using personal information, Snell adds, the company immediately reaches out to a subscriber via phone, email, or text message to begin the restoration process. "If a subscriber becomes a victim of identity fraud or became a victim of fraud before they purchased our solution, they can also call our privacy advocates to receive personalized help," she explains. "Our team of experts can help the subscriber through the restoration process every step of the way."

According to Rosseau, restoration can happen in two forms. "One is self-directed, where the customer calls the identity theft provider, who offers information on steps he or she can take-things like how to contact credit card companies, how to get another copy of your driver's license, things like that," he notes.

"With the other-we call it our managed service-someone takes on the restoration activities for you," he explains. "With our service, the clients actually sign a limited power of attorney and a licensed Kroll investigator takes over the restoration work to get them where they were pre-incident."

Rosseau points out that all four elements-consultation, privacy monitoring, security monitoring and restoration-are important. "Certainly, you'd love to not have to need a restoration," he says. "You'd love to get in front of it. To the extent someone is using monitoring or even credit bureau reports and alerts, they'll know when any uses occur. Those things matter and people need to pay attention to them."

He also says it's important to avoid protection gaps. "It's critical to understand who is covered," he explains. "Some plans cover one or two adults and others can be added. Our family plan covers two adults and up to eight minor children."

Agent and broker role
"Agencies want to show value," explains Rosseau. "Agents and brokers I talk with appreciate the fact that they can offer something that has a 'relevant now' usage. Most products agencies sell, of course, are for when something bad happens. Our product is, as well, but it also is one that can help with education and getting in front of a problem now."

Wylie concurs. "Agents also benefit from having a new offering to share with their clients," he explains. "This can increase their value and it can reinforce their position as a trusted advisor."

Snell adds, "Retail independent agents and brokers can further differentiate their services by not only being a trusted advisor for insurance products-and there is an insurance component to our service-but also for other solutions, like identity protection that will help consumers and ultimately lead to greater client retention."

She points out that companies, agents, brokers and other business professionals realize identity fraud is not only a problem for individuals, but it also poses a risk for organizations with which they're affiliated. "Just think about shared passwords between a breached account and a corporate system," she says. "We're seeing a trend where professionals are purchasing identity protection for their clients and partners as a value-add to their core product offering."

"With most products agencies sell, there are a few hindrance points," Rosseau observes. "One is the underwriting process. Second, they're already very saturated in the market. Three, there's a huge claim process. And four, there are usually annual premium hikes. None of those are concerns with this product."

Getting connected
According to Wylie, LifeLock can be made available to agent and broker clients through the company's call center or web services. "We can provide marketing support and marketing content needed to communicate effectively with a broker's client base," he explains. "We make it easy to develop a contract and get up to speed quickly." The company provides multiple plans that offer the agent or broker a revenue share for each client he or she refers.

"We give people a sense of confidence to live freely in an always connected world, so that our members have some peace of mind when it comes to helping protect their identities," Wylie adds. "We're here to support our agents and brokers in providing value and continuous service."

According to Snell, InfoArmor recently expanded its offering to include a new feature, SocialArmor, which monitors Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for reputational damages and cyberbullying to protect families online. "We are not solely focused on identity and credit," she explains. "Looking to the future of fraud, we have some exciting product enhancements lined up that will provide incredible value to subscribers."

She points out that her company focuses exclusively on selling to businesses. "That helps us focus on our product and our partnerships with brokers and agents. We don't provide coverage on an individual basis, so agents don't have to worry about us competing with their business. We can provide competitive pricing and commission because of this business model."

Her company provides sales support materials for agents and brokers to make the education process simple. "We also offer a number of different pricing options depending on volume," she notes. "To learn more, email us."

Agents interested in engaging with LegalShield can enter their information at the firm's new agent-focused website. "We'll get them signed up and connect them with an associate in their local area," Rosseau says. "They can get all the training they need and start writing business in as little as two weeks."

The company offers a variety of compensation plans and also provides education seminars brokers can offer to business clients that address the pervasive issue.

Snell concludes, "Identity and credit fraud are problems that are not going away. Offering an innovative, value-added service like identity protection will help agents and brokers differentiate their service even further."

InfoArmor
sales@infoarmor.com

LegalShield
business.legalshield.com/agents-brokers

LifeLock
www.lifelockbusinesssolutions.com/