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A.M.BestTV: Insurers Respond to Risks of Identity Theft


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Lee McDonald
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - MARCH 25, 2015 01:47 PM (EDT)
This A.M.BestTV episode examines how insurers are fighting the increasingly complex threats to privacy and security by deploying new risk protection offerings, as identity theft has been the number one complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission for the last 15 years.

"For our industry going forward, I believe we need to double down on our efforts to assure consumers that their information is safe,' said Jeff Smedsrud, chief executive officer at Healthcare.com.

Approximately 15 million U.S. residents each year have their identities fraudulently used, resulting in an estimated annual loss of $50 billion, according to IdentityTheft.info, a website that follows the latest identity theft trends. That estimated loss averages to an individual loss of $3,500. To help consumers counteract this growing problem, insurance companies have been developing new products, including State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm), which is offering a new protection called "Restoration Coverage."

"Restoration coverage provides professional case managers that will assist clients in restoring their identities by working with credit bureaus and companies, banks and any legal representatives for an entire year," said Debbie Weiss, agent at State Farm.

Also appearing in this episode is Robert Hartwig, president at Insurance Information Institute.

Click here to view the entire video program: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=idtheft315.

Recent episodes of A.M.BestTV include:


  • Insurers Identify Wide Range of Emerging Risks: At the recent 2015 CPCU Society Reinsurance Symposium, insurers and reinsurers identified cyber liability, accumulation risk, regulatory issues and contract wording as leading issues: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cpcu315.

  • Cyber Risk Information Sharing Takes Spotlight in Congress: In Washington, D.C., insurance executives addressed U.S. senators concerning their general support of legislation that will reduce barriers to the sharing of cyber risk information. However, although these executives generally support the bill, they did warn that not all exposures can be covered by private insurance: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cyber315.

  • Axis' CEO Albert Benchimol: PartnerRe Deal Will Move Company Up: An interview with Albert Benchimol, president and chief executive officer at Axis Capital Holdings Limited, who looks at the upcoming closing of the merger between two equals, his company and PartnerRe Ltd: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=benchimol315.

  • Younger Managing General Agents Make Their Pitch to Global Markets: Recently the members of the American Association of Managing General Agents' Under 40 Organization visited with Lloyd's and London market representatives, where the members received a better understanding of the market and how it operates: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=aamga315.

A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

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