Debix vs. Lifelock

Posted By: Dr. Frugal in Credit on 07/26/2007 at 14:38:10

There are two leading companies offering personal identity theft protection: Lifelock and Debix. Lifelock has been established longer, has larger-profile clients and offers up to $1 million in guarantees of protection. Debix is relatively new but has already claimed some larger clients, including the State Offices of Ohio, who signed up en masse after a data breach early in 2007. Debix only offers $10,000 but costs less. Below we set up the Debix vs. Lifelock table so you could more easily compare their services.

	Debix	LifeLock	Credit Monitoring
Yearly credit reports mailed to you:
Banks must call before doing anything:
Keeps listed phone private from creditors:
Provides an audit trail:
Stops pre-approved credit card solicitations
Coverage in Dollars:	$25,000 (backed by AIG)	$1,000,000 (backed by general insurance)	$10,000 (backed by general insurance)
Discount Available:
Cost(per year)	$99 ($89 w/ promo code)	$110 ($89 w/ promo code)	$119

Comments

Posted by CM at November 16, 2007, 6:05 am:

On 11/16/07 the NY Times lists one more big player, in addition to Debix and LifeLock. It is TrustedID.

Posted by PR at January 16, 2008, 8:46 am:

The Debix website says they offer "Up to $25,000 Identity Theft Coverage and Recovery Services".

Posted by Dr. Frugal at January 16, 2008, 12:10 pm:

Thanks for letting me know--I'll update it tonight.

Posted by BDP at February 5, 2008, 12:58 pm:

Has anyone read what the New York Times said about LifeLock? Apparently their CEO is totally full of it.

Posted by Informed User at March 26, 2008, 10:02 am:

Did anyone actually read about this $1 million guarantee? I quote (from Lifelock's Website), "We will pay up to $1,000,000 to *cure the failure or defect in our service*, per member, per lifetime for all incidents in the aggregate, regardless of circumstance." In english? We will invest $1,000,000 into our services to make them better. Oh, and by the way, you get nothing out of the whole deal. Sounds like a bad deal to me...

Posted by Just read LL agmt at March 30, 2008, 4:02 pm:

"WE WILL NOT MAKE PAYMENTS TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS YOU MAY INCUR. OTHER THAN OUR SERVICE GUARANTEE, AND EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SET OUT HEREIN WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY ABOUT OUR SERVICE OF ANY KIND, AND WE DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OUTSIDE OF OUR SERVICE GUARANTEE, SUCH AS A WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS OF OUR SERVICE FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE." I think the next section contradicts Lifelocks CEO's recent radio ads. In other words, we will hire some people to "assist you" with no assurances that your credit will be completely restored...Later in their Agreement they claim to not be an insurance company or offer insurance, so why mention the $1MM in the first place? It is clear that this company has some serious credibility issues, I would avoid any company that advertises this $1MM guarantee...which most people would take as meaning paying back creditors stolen money, pay you for lost time & aggrrevation because the service failed. What it really says is we will hire someone to make some calls, write some letters...no guarantee's. What a joke. Their competitors are insured through outside insurance Co's, better alternative- This is nothing more than well planned snake oil sales presentaion preying on the misinformed. Nice work on your column...

Posted by Dr. Frugal at March 31, 2008, 8:27 am:

With all due respect, while I do sell space on the side (which I guess in a roundabout way gives me a vested interest), every company's fine print looks like that. I'm not saying ANY identity theft insurance is a good idea if you're not at risk. If you're not doing anything that increases your chances of it then it's a total waste of money. However, if you're in a position of heightened risk is it any more a "well planned snake oil sales presentation" more than any other type of insurance? I don't think so--all insurance is a rip-off if you're never going to use it.

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