METLIFE AUTO & HOME® IS FIRST TO LAUNCH EXPANDED IDENTITY PROTECTION SERVICES TO INCLUDE ASSISTANCE WITH SOCIAL MEDIA COMPROMISE AND MORE
Warwick, RI , May 09, 2013
MetLife Auto & Home today announced an enhancement to its identity protection services to include assistance for digital threats, such as e-mail and social media compromise, as well as data breach victim assistance. The first to offer these enhanced features, the services are provided as part of the company’s long-offered identity protection program, which is provided to automobile, homeowners, renters, and condominium customers at no additional cost, in states where approved by regulators.
“We’re excited to expand our already broad service to offer solutions for new consumer threats arising from social media use and data breaches,” said Bill Moore, president of MetLife Auto & Home. “MetLife Auto & Home has offered a comprehensive identity management program for years at no additional cost. Through this enhancement, MetLife Auto & Home is pleased to provide customers with even greater peace of mind, knowing their identities and reputation are a bit more secure.”
As part of the enhancement, MetLife Auto & Home’s identity protection services provider will now assist customers with:
- Assisted Living: Assists customers responsible for safeguarding the personal information of others.
- External Breach Victim Notification: Provides support for consumers who have their personal information exposed by third parties by explaining notices received.
- E-mail Compromise: Helps analyze and recover from e-mail hacking situations.
- Phish Assist: Provides assistance to evaluate received messages to avoid becoming a victim of e-mail or phone scams.
- Social Media Compromise: Provides advice concerning privacy settings, etc., to help protect your on-line identity and privacy.
- System Compromise: Providing contact information for preventative resources for before and assistance after a personal electronic device has become exposed.
These enhancements augment an already-robust suite of services, which will continue to include assistance with resolving or preventing instances of identity theft such as: fraudulent medical insurance claims, lost ID when traveling, setting fraud alerts post break-in, replacing ID following natural disaster, proactively protecting personal information that could be compromised while moving, replacement of marriage/civil union documents, false tax returns, securing personal information after death and notifying creditors, prevention of misuse of the personal information of children, placement of military fraud alerts when deployed on service, and more. These services help sort out issues with government agencies, credit companies, and medical providers and helps replace personal documents that were lost, damaged, or stolen.
To initiate a request for assistance, MetLife Auto & Home customers simply call the company’s 24-hour toll-free number, at which point a service provider will be assigned to work with a customer until all issues are resolved. Customers are matched with dedicated fraud specialists who remain their contacts throughout the process to clear their good names and restore reputations efficiently and quickly.
MetLife Auto & Home’s service is provided by IDentity Theft 911®, one of the nation’s foremost providers of identity theft crisis resolution and education services. The service is available in most states—excluding auto policy customers in New Hampshire and auto and home customers in North Carolina. The assistance differs from “ID theft insurance” coverage, which typically focuses on reimbursement of expenses and losses arising from identity theft, and can be sold for $35 - $45 or more annually.
For more information about preventing identity theft, including tips and a downloadable checklist to avoid being victimized, visit www.metlife.com/identitytheft.
The MetLife Auto & Home companies, subsidiaries of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), are collectively one of the nation’s leading personal lines property and casualty insurance providers, insuring over 3.8 million autos and homes. Their affiliate, MetLife, is a leading provider of insurance and financial services with operations throughout the U.S. and Latin America, Europe, and Asia’s Pacific regions. For more information, please visit www.metlife.com.
MetLife Auto & Home is a brand of Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and its affiliates, Warwick, RI.