Identity Guard Review | Identity Theft

Identity theft cost American consumers $5.8 billion in 2021, and fraud cases were up 70% from the previous year. To protect your finances and keep from adding to these statistics, you may be thinking about getting an identity theft protection service.

With Identity Guard, you can choose between basic identity theft protection and in-depth, "white glove" identity and credit protection plans. Keep reading to learn more about Identity Guard’s features and whether its plans are right for you.

Best for affordability

Starting at $8.99 per month, Identity Guard’s entry-level plan is an affordable option for those who want an identity theft protection service without having to spend hundreds of dollars every month on expensive software.

Identity Guard identity theft protection pros and cons

Pros explained

Budget-friendly basic plan

Identity Guard’s Value plan costs $8.99 per month for individuals and $14.99 per month for families when billed annually. The Value plan includes access to a U.S.-based customer care team and comes with data breach notifications, dark web monitoring, high-risk transaction monitoring, safe browsing features and a password manager.

$1 million in identity theft insurance available on all plans

All pricing plans include $1 million in identity theft insurance, underwritten by American International Group, Inc (AIG). This insurance covers costs related to identity theft, such as repairing your credit report and paying legal fees to restore your identity. While other providers with similar products might offer more coverage, a $1 million cap on damages is enough for the average user.

Variety of pricing options for individual and family plans

Identity Guard offers three plans split into family and individual categories. An individual plan allows one user to access its service while the family plan grants the use of its services to five adults plus an unlimited number of children.

The three plans and their individual and family rates are:

• Value ($8.99 to $14.99)
• Total ($19.99 to $29.99)
• Ultra ($29.99 to $39.99)

Cons explained

Comprehensive plans are expensive

Ultra, Identity Guard's most comprehensive offering, includes all of the features available in Value and Total, plus additional identity and credit protection tools like social media monitoring. That said, starting at $29.99 per month, this plan is on the pricier end compared to similar top-tier plans from other providers.

Basic plan doesn't include credit monitoring

The Value plan includes basic features for identity theft protection but it doesn't come with credit and debit card monitoring. If this is a necessary feature, you’d have to purchase Identity Guard’s top-tier option, the Ultra plan.

Identity Guard identity theft protection plans

Below you can take a closer look at the protection services available with each Identity Guard plan.

Value

The Value plan comes with the following features:

• $1 million in identity theft insurance
• Access to a U.S.-based customer care team
• Data breach notifications
• Dark web monitoring
• High-risk transaction monitoring
• Safe browsing
• Password management

Total

Total, Identity Guard's mid-range plan, comes with all the features available on Value, plus:

• Bank account monitoring
• Credit file monitoring with the three credit bureaus
• Monthly credit score

Ultra

Ultra comes with all the features available on Value and Total, plus:

• Credit and debit card monitoring
• White glove fraud resolution
• Social media monitoring
• 401k and investment account monitoring
• Home title monitoring
• Criminal and sex offense monitoring
• USPS address change monitoring
• Access to Experian Credit Lock
• Annual three-bureau credit monitoring reports

Identity Guard recommends the Ultra plan for those wanting the most complete identity theft protection available. You’ll find features not available on the cheaper tiers such as:

• White-glove fraud resolution. If you experience identity theft or another type of financial fraud, a dedicated case manager from Identity Guard will help you create a remediation and mitigation plan to minimize damages and losses. The case manager will also help teach you how to report identity theft to federal institutions and credit bureaus and restore your financial reputation.

• Social media monitoring. By providing Identity Guard with information about your social media accounts, the company can alert you when you share personal and financial information with potentially fraudulent users in direct messages. That can prevent someone from stealing your identity.

• Credit monitoring. The best credit monitoring services, like those in the Ultra plan, alert you about suspicious or unauthorized activities on your accounts. You can receive notifications by email, text or phone and take swift action to protect your financial information.

Identity Guard identity theft protection pricing

Identity Guard wins points for affordability with its Value plan, which is one of the most budget-friendly options available. The Ultra plan is on the more expensive end but features valuable identity protection services. Here’s a cost breakdown for each of Identity Guard's plans:

• Value ($8.99 for individuals/$14.99 for families)
• Total ($19.99 for individuals/$29.99 for families)
• Ultra ($29.99 for individuals/$39.99 for families)

Identity Guard doesn’t offer a free trial or demo for any of its plans. However, the company provides a 60-day money-back guarantee on all annual plans.

Identity Guard identity theft protection financial stability

Before signing up for a plan with an identity theft service provider, it's a good idea to find out if the company is financially stable. Although we couldn't find financial stability information for Identity Guard, the company has been in operation for over 25 years according to its main website.

AIG, the company that underwrites Identity Guard's insurance policies, earned a financial strength rating of A (Excellent) by AM Best.

Identity Guard identity theft protection accessibility

Identity Guard has a resource center and FAQ page to provide you with detailed information about the company's services. You can also email a team member and get a response within 24 to 48 hours or phone a customer representative from Monday through Saturday. Unlike many other providers, however, the company doesn't have a live chat feature.

Availability

Identity Guard's services are currently limited to customers in the United States. We couldn't find information about whether Identity Guard plans to offer its identity theft monitoring tools to international markets in the future.

Contact information

The Identity Guard customer service phone number is 1-833-692-2187. Lines are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EST). You can also email customercare@identityguard.com.

User experience

When it comes to user experience, Identity Guard aims to keep things simple for its customers. It has a straightforward registration process, and once you've set up your account, Identity Guard handles the heavy lifting of identity theft protection.

The company sends you customizable notifications by email, text or phone if it notices suspicious activity on your accounts or if someone exposes your personal information on the internet. You can always log into your dashboard to view monitoring insights and update your account information.

Identity Guard also has a mobile app that lets you access your dashboard on the go, receive push notifications about fraud alerts, and add and remove financial accounts. The Identity Guard app works on both iOS and Android devices.

Identity Guard identity theft protection customer satisfaction

When it comes to customer reviews, Identity Guard's reputation differs depending on the review platform. On the BBB, the company has an average of 1.8/5 based on just five customer reviews. Many users note the company's solid customer service and ability to solve problems quickly.

How we evaluated Identity Guard identity theft protection

Money considered the following factors when reviewing Identity Guard:

• Plan features
• Plan pricing
• Accessibility
• Service terms of use
• Money-back guarantee options
• Customer service options
• Customer reviews on BBB, Trustpilot and other platforms
• Third-party ratings

Summary of Money's Identity Guard identity theft protection review

Identity Guard gets an "A" for the affordability of its entry-level plan. Starting at just $8.99 per month, the Value plan offers basic identity theft protection features for those who want to safeguard their personally identifiable information on the internet. A generous $1 million in identity theft insurance is also available with this plan.

The biggest downside is that Identity Guard's credit monitoring is unavailable on the cheaper plans. For full comprehensive identity theft coverage, you'll need to choose the more expensive Ultra plan. If price isn't an issue, Ultra contains everything you need to protect your personal information and financial accounts. Whichever plan you choose, you can expect a simple sign-up process and easy-to-use tools.