An identity theft protection plan may offer both proactive identity monitoring services as well as restoration assistance and coverage for identity theft expenses. While plans vary by provider, the following services may be included:

Credit and Dark Web Monitoring

If your plan provider offers credit monitoring, they'll likely keep an eye on things like your credit report, change of address records or credit card and loan applications, says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If they find any new or suspicious activity, you'd then receive an alert.

Your plan provider may also monitor things like the dark web and will alert you when personal information is found (such as your phone number or email address). These alerts may give you the opportunity to get ahead of identity thieves. For example, as soon as you’re alerted, you can take the initiative to change your password on accounts that use the exposed email address.

Identity restoration

Identity restoration services are helpful if your identity is stolen. Identity theft can cause harm to your credit and reputation, which can take a lot of time and money to repair, says the Insurance Information Institute (III). Some identity theft protection providers will assign a restoration specialist to help restore your identity.

Expense or stolen funds reimbursement

An identity protection plan may also help pay for fees associated with restoring your identity, such as:

Administrative fees (such as postage or notary costs)
Legal fees
Lost wages (for example, if you need to take time off work to restore your identity)

You may also find that some plans provide reimbursement for funds stolen because of identity theft (for example, money stolen from your savings account). However, keep in mind that not all plans will reimburse you for these types of direct losses.

You should also remember that purchasing an identity protection plan will not prevent your identity from being stolen in the first place. But it can help alert you to a potential identity theft problem before it gets worse and help you restore your identity if it's stolen.

To help safeguard your information, consider taking steps to help avoid identity theft, such as only making online purchases through secure websites and learning to recognize phishing scams, says the III.