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Our Verdict
Our Verdict
Experian offers three identity theft protection plans: basic, premium and family. The basic plan is free and the premium and family plans currently come with a free seven-day trial. Their basic plan focuses on helping protect your identity, whereas their premium and family plans include both identity theft protection services and monitoring of all three credit bureaus. Overall, Experian IdentityWorks plans are comprehensive and an excellent value.
Pros
- Free trial period of seven days
- Plans for individuals and families available
- Premium and family plans come with identity theft insurance
- Premium and family plans come with monitoring of all three credit bureaus
- Discount available for paying annually
- You can add an extra adult and up to 10 children with a family plan
Cons
- Basic plan does not come with identity theft insurance
- Basic plan monitors only your Experian credit report, which can leave you vulnerable to fraud
Best for Credit Monitoring
4.0
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Plan Costs
$24.99
Family Plans Offered
Yes
ID Theft Insurance
Up to $1 million
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- At a Glance
- Best Use of Experian ID Theft Protection
- Other Benefits
- Fine Print
- How Experian ID Theft Protection Stacks Up
- Compare Experian Identity Theft Protection With LifeLock And Identity Guard
- Is Experian Identity Theft Protection for You?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Show more
Introduction
Like it or not, identity theft is more common than many people want to admit. According to data from Javelin Research, losses caused by identity theft reached $43 billion in 2022 alone.
This is despite government and industry action intended to help prevent instances of fraud, such as the movement toward credit cards with chip-and-pin technology. The reality is that, as hard as we try to avoid identity theft and fraud, hackers and thieves spend their entire careers finding new workarounds and methods to get their hands on our personal information and account details.
This is where the Forbes Advisor list of best identity theft protection providers of 2023comes into play. With identity theft protection from a provider like Experian, you can access 24/7 account monitoring that can help you notice early signs of fraud.
If you’re worried about your personal details getting into the wrong hands, identity theft protection is one of several things you can do to avoid being a victim. Keep reading to learn about identity theft protection from Experian, including the company’s plans and their basic pros and cons.
At a Glance
Experian offers three main levels of coverage: basic, premium and family. The premium and family plans offer the same features, except that the family plan covers two adults and up to 10 children, whereas the premium plan is just for a single user. The basic plan is free and offers considerably fewer features.
IdentityWorks Basic
- Free of charge
- Free Experian credit report and FICO Score
- Experian credit monitoring and alerts
- FICO Score tracker
- FICO Score monitoring
- Free dark web surveillance report
- Free personal privacy scan
IdentityWorks Premium
- Costs $24.99 per month
- Includes everything in the IdentityWorks Basic plan
- Advanced identity theft monitoring
- Monthly privacy scans and help getting personal info removed from covered people-finder sites
- Three-bureau credit monitoring and alerts
- Dark web internet surveillance alerts
- Financial account takeover alerts
- Social Security number trace alerts
- Change of address alerts
- Court records and booking alerts
- Non-credit loan alerts
- Sex offender registry alerts
- Social network monitoring alerts
- Identity validation alerts
- Experian CreditLock with alerts
- Up to $1 million identity theft insurance
- Dedicated fraud resolution support
- Lost wallet assistance
- Quarterly three-bureau credit report and FICO Scores
- Daily Experian FICO Scores
IdentityWorks Family
- Costs $34.99 per month
- Includes everything in the IdentityWorks Premium plan
- Premium coverage for one additional adult
- Identity monitoring for up to 10 children
- Advanced identity theft monitoring
- Monthly privacy scans and help getting personal info removed from covered people-finder sites
- Three-bureau credit monitoring and alerts
- Dark web internet surveillance alerts
- Financial account takeover alerts
- Social Security number trace alerts
- Change of address alerts
- Court records and booking alerts
- Non-credit loan alerts
- Sex offender registry alerts
- Social network monitoring alerts
- Identity validation alerts
- Experian CreditLock with alerts
- Up to $1 million identity theft insurance
- Dedicated fraud resolution support
- Lost wallet assistance
- Quarterly three-bureau credit report and FICO Scores
- Daily Experian FICO Scores
- FICO Score Tracker
Best Use of Experian ID Theft Protection
Once you sign up for Experian ID theft protection, you should plan to take advantage of the following features and benefits:
- Identity theft insurance protection. The premium and family plans come with up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.This insurance can help reimburse you if you suffer financial losses due to identity theft or fraud and it can also provide peace of mind. The basic plan does not come with insurance.
- Monitoring your credit reports and scores over time. Use your Experian ID theft protection plan to keep track of your credit score and changes to your reports over time. The Premium plan offers more robust coverage as it monitors your credit reports at the three largest credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
- Help protect your children from fraud. Children are also susceptible to identity theft and fraud, so if you want to protect your children’s identities while monitoring online activity, the family plan allows you to add up to 10 dependents.
- Use alerts to stay informed about your identity and your credit. Make sure to pay attention to alerts you receive when a new account is added to your credit reports or your address has been changed. These alerts can help you spot the signs of identity theft and other types of fraud.
Other Benefits
The premium and family plans go beyond the nuts and bolts of identity protection services. Here are a few standout services:
- Lost wallet assistance. Can help you cancel accounts and get new account numbers when your wallet is lost or stolen.
- Address change verification. Can help you find out if someone is trying to alter your mailing address or personal information listed on your accounts.
- Real-time credit inquiry alerts. Lets you know immediately when someone tries to open an account using your information.
- FICO Score simulator. Can help you anticipate changes to your FICO Score based on your behavior and credit usage over time.
- Free trial period. Allows you to cancel your membership at any time during the seven-day trial without any charges.
Fine Print
Experian doesn’t have a lot of fine print or hidden terms to find with their plans, which is good news for consumers. However, you should know that it can take up to four days for your plan to begin monitoring your Equifax and TransUnion credit reports, and it may not be possible to monitor them at all in some cases during your seven-day trial period. You will need a credit card to qualify for the trial period.
How Experian ID Theft Protection Stacks Up
|   | Experian IdentityWorks | LifeLock | Identity Guard |
|---|---|---|---|
Plan Costs | Up to $24.99 per month for individuals when billed monthly | $11.99 to $34.99 per month for individuals when billed monthly | $8.99 to $29.99 per month for individuals |
Identity Theft Insurance | Up to $1 million | $25,000 to $1 million | $500,000 to $1 million |
Credit Monitoring | At least one-bureau credit monitoring (basic plan) or three-bureau credit monitoring | At least one-bureau monitoring with all plans | At least one-bureau monitoring with all three plans |
When it comes to identity theft protection, there are quite a few providers to choose from. Identity Guard and LifeLock are two of the other major players in this niche, and you can easily see that both companies offer plans starting at a comparable price point.
One area where Identity Guard really stands out is the fact that you get up to $1 million in identity theft protection with all of its plans. LifeLock plans offer different levels of coverage depending on the plan you select, however, their basic plan only offers just $25,000 in stolen funds reimbursem*nt coverage and up to $25,000 in coverage for personal expense compensation. LifeLock does offer up to $1 million in protection for lawyers and experts, but this coverage doesn’t apply to your personal financial losses. Experian ID theft plans offer up to $1 million in identity theft insurance depending on the plan you select.
All three of these providers include monitoring of at least one of your credit reports in their basic plans, which is good news. However, you’ll have to choose a more expensive plan with each provider if you want all of your credit reports monitored.
Compare Experian Identity Theft Protection With LifeLock And Identity Guard
1
Experian Identity Theft Protection
Plan Costs
$24.99
Family Plans Offered
Yes
ID Theft Insurance
Up to $1 million
2
LifeLock
Plan Costs
$8.99 to $25.99
Family Plans Offered
Yes
ID Theft Insurance
$25,000 to $1 million
3
Identity Guard
Plan Costs
$3.60 to $12.00
Family Plans Offered
Yes
ID Theft Insurance
$1 million
Is Experian Identity Theft Protection for You?
Experian identity theft protection plans offer a wide range of services for individuals and families. If you want to save money, but still get the benefits of credit monitoring for just one credit bureau, you can go with the basic plan. But, if you’re interested in a comprehensive identity theft program the premium and family plans go beyond just basic monitoring.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I want identity theft insurance?
Identity theft insurance can provide you with financial reimbursem*nt if you’re a victim of fraud and you face financial losses. It can also help you avert potential identity theft before it’s too late.
Why would I want identity theft protection for my kids?
Kids can become victims of identity theft and fraud just like adults can. By having your children’s identities monitored, you can spot signs of fraud early on and stop it in its tracks. Without this type of protection, you may not know someone has stolen your child’s identity or personal information until fraud has already occurred for years.
How can I save money on identity theft protection?
Shop around and compare providers who offer plans with the features you want the most. Also look for discounts. Many identity theft protection companies offer free trials, so you can see if you like it before you invest money.
Why do I want all three of my credit reports monitored?
Monitoring all three of your credit reports is crucial since the same information is not always reported to all three credit bureaus. For instance, if you only monitor your Experian credit report and a fraudulent account is reported to your TransUnion credit report, you may not find out until many months or even years later.
Does Experian identity theft coverage come with a money-back guarantee?
Experian identity theft protection plans come with a seven-day free trial. This isn’t a money-back guarantee per se, but this trial does let you try out a plan for a full week without any financial obligation. Experian’s fine print says you can cancel your plan at any time within seven days without any charge.
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