Got Your ID Covered?

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Insurance companies are offering a new way to protect your good name. Last year more than 160,000 people notified the Federal Trade Commission that they had been victims of identity theft, a crime in which fraud artists hijack personal details like your Social Security number to get loans and credit cards in your name. Identity-theft insurance covers the expenditures you would incur to re-establish your identity, from small charges (paying for a notary, having documents sent overnight) to bigger ones (lost wages while dealing with the paperwork). Chubb Group includes all these expenses, up to $25,000, at no extra charge through its homeowner's or renter's insurance. For $59 to $180 a year, Travelers offers identity-theft insurance as a stand-alone policy, covering $5,000 to $30,000 in expenses. Visa USA will cover up to $15,000 as an optional benefit. Advises Jay Foley of the Identity Theft Resource Center: "Don't buy a separate policy without checking out the coverage and costs."