The Marriott had some bad news and some good news for the buying public. The bad news was cyber thieves hacked the Marriott’s computer system and stole the passport information of 5 million people. The good news was it could have been worse with millions more victims.
Cyber theft is a major crime industry which is becoming increasingly more sophisticated. Banking, retail, and the hospitality industries are all at risk of security wall breaches. Hackers do not always use the information to set up dummy accounts. Instead, these felons sell batches to other criminal groups who will create accounts. A smart idea for group legal plans is to offer an identity theft benefit. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has such a benefit.
Panic Creates Delays
The felons work fast because they have the element of surprise. A victim doesn’t know until statements arrive. The large credit card balances or empty bank accounts create panic. The victim might delay a day or two before responding and that gives the thief more time to exploit an opportunity. Moreover, the response may be inefficient. The victim does not quite know what to do and makes mistakes due to ignorance.
A cyber raid will destroy a credit rating. The road back to normalcy is papered with legal documents. Evidence must be supplied and forms submitted. It can be more than a standard group legal plan can do. Special help is necessary to legally regain lost credit ratings. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services will furnish that assistance.
The Basics of Protection
Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services offers many levels of identity theft plans. Two of the plans which we will focus on are the Platinum Identity Theft Protector Plan and the Premier Identity Theft Protector Plan. Each has a collection of services to offer, although one has a little bit more than the other. Two things that both have are credit bureau warnings and an identity theft insurance policy
Victims must act immediately when a theft occurs and reports from three major credit bureaus will alert the plan member. These warnings are about unusual purchases or withdrawals from accounts. The alerts go out immediately after the actions are detected. The plan member can then begin to use other services to correct any damage.
The identity theft insurance policy is to help pay for the expenses incurred while restoring financial stability. Items such as court fees, postage, and time away from work are some of the items covered.
As mentioned earlier, each group legal plan has its own unique services. Clients will decide which plan they want. We will not promote one option over the other, because an organization knows what its employees need. Countrywide is positive that the plan selected is the one which will provide the best help for an organization’s employees. We will implement the benefit with efficient benefits administration and quick service. No one is required to wait an unreasonable length of time.
Calming Troubled Waters
Our benefits bring a sense of calm to an emergency. Like oil on rough waters, the victim stops panicking and sees a way out of a crisis. The services we provide depend on what option is chosen, just as we allow with our group legal plan benefits. Whatever the selected option, a plan member has the tools required to bring back financial sanity.
Employees are at risk from hackers. Security walls can be breached and a person’s identity compromised. It is essential, therefore, for people to have some type of theft protection that allows a speedy return to good credit ratings and quiet. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services will provide the help needed to bring sanity back to a chaotic situation. You may have some questions about what we can do and we would welcome the chance to explain our benefits. Please feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience and find out more about the Countrywide group legal plan.