Plymouth Rock Assurance: Be sure not to over share!

  

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Do’s and Don’ts: What to share, what to keep private after a car accident

You may have seen the recent piece by “The Color of Money” Washington Post syndicated columnist Michelle Singletary, who wrote about how she, like too many of us, over-shared her personal information after a car accident.

The adrenaline-fueled time after an accident is when we often feel shaken and most vulnerable—which is precisely when you could be most at risk for identity theft. Crooks are known to stage accidents to take advantage of victims’ post-accident upheaval, and then try to defraud insurance companies by making false claims.

Don’t be a target for identity theft. Here’s what you can do to avoid attack when you least expect it:

• Don’t share personal information such as your driver’s license number, social security number, telephone number, or your home address - It may seem like a convenient, time-saving move, but don’t let anyone take a photo of your driver’s license. Your license number is a common way to verify your identity and is often used in lieu of your social security number or birth date. Once an image of your driver’s license is on someone’s smart phone, you have no idea (or control over) where the information on it will end up.

• Do share your name, license plate number, make and model of your vehicle, your policyholders’ names (if different than the driver of the vehicle involved in an accident), your insurance carrier information, and your insurer’s accident reporting telephone numbers. Anything more than that is unnecessary and can compromise your personal identity. In short, TMI is BAD.

Headquartered in Boston, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation provides auto insurance to personal and commercial auto insurance customers in MA and CT. Plymouth Rock is the flagship carrier of The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies, which together write and manage over $1 billion in auto and homeowner’s insurance throughout the Northeast.