Alliance & Leicester 'Identity Fraud' protection £59.95...worth it??

PrincessJR

Hi,

I have just opened an account with Alliance & leicester and have just received a call asking me if I want to take out their Fraud Protection.
Basically for £59.95 per year (or just over £1 per week as they like to say!) I can have £50,000 worth of cover against identity fraud (so if someone uses my name to take out credit etc...) and a caseworker to help me clear my name with the credit providers. The representative talked about how these cases usually end up going to court which could be very costly to me, even though I am the innocent party?

In addition to this I will get access to my Experian credit report so that I can check any new applications made against my name, and so identify fraudulent activity quicker.

Sounds quite useful, especially as Experian charge £5.99 per month ANYWAY to view your credit report, and with this I would be getting the additional benefits.

However, I am always looking for ways to save money, and dont want to 'fork out' for anything that is uneccessary.

Would anyone consdier taking this out, or should I not bother?

opinions please

BASFORDLAD

in a word NO
they are just using this a complete sales pitch.

At the end of the day if someone uses your Identity then you are not liable for anything. Granted it may take a few hours to sort out etc etc but its not worth it and nothing you cant do yourself.

Hes basically frightening you in to buying somethign that is a complete waste of money by mentioning court. a very poor sales technique.

Also with regards to your credit file you dont need this. you can get your credit report for £2 through the post.

Save your money for something more useful and if they ring again again tell them to get thier facts right.

G_M

Experian often offer free access via internet on a one-off 'trial' basis,

Why on earth pay for something you only need to do once in a blue moon?

This is a con.

book12

If you really want identity fraud protection, I would suggest you get a packaged account that has this along with the benefits you use. I believe it's cheaper that way.

I would recommend the Barclays Current Account Plus bank account. It is a packaged account which costs £3 per month, with three things: identity protection/helpline/support, extended warrranty, and card holder protection (i.e. debit/credit cards, drivers license, passport, etc...). See the website and T&C's for more details. That is the cheapest packaged accont out of all the UK banks.

Bank account features: http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=homefreevi2&value=14620&target=_self&site=pfs

T&Cs for the benefits: http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=homefreegroup&value=14316&target=_self&site=pfs

Alternatively, there are credit reference agency products that offer identity protection too. Equifax: http://www.equifax.co.uk/Products/products.html (there's one for £2.99 per month). Not sure if Experian offer those types of products though.

To prevent identity fraud, just don't go on websites that you feel that are dodgy when you enter your card details. I rarely hear people on this forum, my friends, etc... that are targets of identity fraud. Even if it did happen to you and not have the protection, you could always go into branch, and fill in paperwork to claim the money you have lost.

premierfella

The Identity Alert Service that you can get free with Capital One credit cards is as much as I need, although this is a different type of offering to the A&L Identity Fraud Protection the OP is being offered,

BASFORDLAD

None of this is needed. Anything they can do you can do for free.

Save the £££££

James

All the services offered are re-active. i.e an attempt, usually successful has been made using your personal info.

Try this pro-active method (click here) it's Free to enrol into and puts YOU in the driving seat.