Earlier this month, Nationwide Insurance had a database compromised, which resulted in the theft of confidential information for one million policyholders and non-policyholders. You may not be insured with Nationwide, but if you gave information to Nationwide for an insurance quote in the past, you may have been affected. If you think Nationwide might have your personal data, you can call this phone number, 1-800-760-1125, to see if your personal information was stolen. The information taken includes names, social security numbers, and other information, but no credit card information was supposedly accessed. Nationwide is notifying the people affected by this data breach, and offering free credit report checks and identity theft coverage. You can find out more about the Nationwide Insurance security breach, and links to articles regarding how several state insurance commissioners have reacted to it, by clicking the link to my Facebook page in this paragraph.

Computer hacking and theft of customer information from large companies is often in the news these days. This may be an even greater concern for customers of insurance companies, because unlike a retailer like Barnes & Noble, insurance companies are usually in possession of their customer’s social security numbers. This blog post will give you some tips on how to minimize your risk while shopping for insurance, and warning signs showing your insurance company or agent is putting you at greater risk of having your personal information stolen. Continue reading →