Europ Assistance Launches Identity Theft Service in UK, Ireland

Europ Assistance has launched an ID Theft assistance service for its UK and Ireland based clients. The travel insurer, an independent division of Italy’s Generali Group, already covers “13 million customers of leading financial service organizations in the U.S.,” the bulletin noted.

“Identity Theft is the UK’s fastest growing crime and according to government estimates, costs the economy approximately £1.7 billion [$3.578 billion] a year, with over 170,000 cases being reported in 2006,” said the announcement. “Beyond the financial and emotional damage, the greatest burden to victims of identity theft is the time and uncertainty around the recovery process.”

Europ Assistance’s identity theft assistance service provides guidance and aims to relieve the “stress that customers will suffer should they fall victim of the crime.” The service “assigns a Personal ID Theft Assistance Advisor to each customer to provide human support and ensure all aspects of the recovery process are addressed quickly,” the bulletin explained. “The aim is to resolve the consequences of the theft and help to prevent it from reoccurring.”

“ID theft is a growing concern today with multiple payment methods and increasingly intelligent access to confidential information, noted Paul Everett, Director of Sales and Client Services for Europ Assistance. “There is currently huge awareness of the problem in the media; however, people often still don’t know where to start once they suspect they have become a victim of ID Theft. More than ever, customers are time poor and rely on professional support to guide and assist them in everyday life. We have built our reputation on our core assistance services and the ID Theft assistance strengthens our overall offering.”

For further information go to: www.europ-assistance.co.uk

Source: Europe Assistance