Every day, millions of families are at risk for identity theft and don't even know it. You may think that you're not a target for identity theft, but anyone can be a victim.
The thought of someone hurting your loved ones is terrifying. But what's even worse is the thought of them being victimized by identity theft and you not being able to do anything about it.
Getting an identity theft protection service for your family is one of the best things you can do to keep them safe. There are many different services out there, but which one can you trust?
Understandably, it can be tough to figure out which one is right for you.
That's why we've done the research and tried out the top identity theft protection services for families. We've looked at features, pricing, and other information we can gather to find the best of the best.
After reading this article, you can choose the right identity theft protection service for your family with confidence.
Don't forget to read until the end because we also have a UNIQUE TIP that can help you in choosing the best ID theft protection service for your family.
What features should you consider for family protection?
Before we dive into the review, it's important first to understand what you should be looking for in an identity theft protection service. Familiarizing yourself with these features will make it easier to find the right service for your family.
These features also serve as the criteria we used to evaluate each service. We only considered services that have these features to make the shortlist more manageable. If a service didn't meet these criteria, we didn't consider it further.
Here are the most important features to look for:
Important Features
Child SSN Monitoring – This is one of the most important features to look for when choosing an ID theft protection service for your family. A good service will monitor your child's Social Security Number to make sure it isn't being used by someone else.
Child Personal Information Monitoring – This feature monitors your child's personal information across the internet and social media to make sure it isn't being used without your permission. Some ID theft protection providers offer more extensive social media monitoring for you and your dependents.
Child Credit Monitoring – This feature allows you to monitor your child's credit report and score. You'll be alerted if there are any changes or activity on their credit report.
Child Credit Lock or Freeze – This feature allows you to lock or freeze your child's credit report so that no one can access it without your permission. This is a great way to protect your child from identity theft.
Child Dark Web Monitoring – This feature monitors the dark web for your child's personal information. You'll be alerted if their information is found on the dark web.
Identity Theft Insurance Coverage – This feature provides you with insurance coverage in case your identity or your child's identity is stolen. This can help cover the costs of restoring their identity. Depending on the coverage, this may include lost wages, expenses, stolen funds, and more.Â
Full-Service Restoration – This feature provides you with assistance from a certified restoration specialist who will help you restore your child's identity.
Sex Offender Watch – This is an alert that will notify you if a sex offender moves into your neighborhood.
Now that you know what to look for in an identity theft protection service, it's time to take a look at the best ones available. We've considered all of the features, pricing, and customer service to find the best services for families.
In providing our recommendations, we've already identified the specific plans from the identity theft protection providers. This way, you can easily find the right service for your family without being overwhelmed by too many options.
So, what are the best identity theft protections for families?
IDX Identity Family Plan
Best For: Families looking for the best value identity theft protection plans with adequate features.
Price: $19.95 per month
Coverage: 2 Adults and 5 minors
IDX is a provider of data breach response services for businesses and consumers. It prides itself in protecting over 40+ million people and has a 95% customer satisfaction rating.
For consumers, IDX offers three plans: IDX Identity, IDX Privacy, and IDX Complete. In choosing a plan, you can choose from the Individual or Family Plan option. When choosing the Family Plans, you get to protect two adults and five minors.
PROS
- Has all the essential features to protect the entire family
- Coverage for 2 adults and 5 minors
- Offers comprehensive Identity theft insurance coverage of up to $1 million
- U.S.-based customer support
CONS
- No 3-bureau credit monitoring. You need to pay three times more for this feature.
- No social media monitoring service and credit lock
- No sex offender watch
After comparing the three family plans offered by IDX, we believe that the IDX Identity Family Plan is the best option for families among IDX's offerings.
We like that this plan includes almost all of the essential family features we mentioned earlier, such as child SSN monitoring, child personal information monitoring, child credit monitoring, and child dark web monitoring.
If your child's identity is compromised, the IDX Identity Family plan also offers identity theft insurance coverage of up to $1 million and full-service restoration assistance from U.S.-based recovery agents.
What's great about the IDX Insurance guarantee is that it covers a lot as long as it's related to identity theft. Whether it's out-of-pocket expenses, legal fees, stolen funds, lost wages, or private investigator's fees, these are all covered.
We have to highlight this because other providers also offer $1 million ID theft insurance, but when you read the fine print, it's only limited to expenses or legal fees.
We noticed, however, that there were some notable features that this particular plan did not have. For one, it only monitors a single credit bureau. It also doesn’t have the credit lock feature and extensive social media monitoring service.
If you want all these extra features, especially the three-bureau monitoring, you'll have to cough up $64.99 per month for the IDX Complete Family Plan, which, in our opinion, is quite expensive at over three times the price of the IDX Identity Family Plan.
Overall, we think that the IDX Identity Family Plan offers the best value for families among IDX's plans. Not only is it the most affordable, but it also offers most of the essential features that families need to protect their identities.
IDShield Family Plan 3-Credit Bureau Monitoring
Best For: Large families who need complete identity theft protection with 3-bureau credit monitoring and up to $1 million insurance in unrecovered cost.
Price: $34.95 per month
Coverage: 2 adults and all dependents below 18 years old
When it comes to identity theft protection services for families, you only get two choices if you want to get one from IDShield. You either choose the IDShield 1-credit bureau monitoring or the 3-credit bureau monitoring option for your family.
The IDShield Family Plan 3 Credit Bureau Monitoring will set you back $34.95 per month, while the 1-credit bureau monitoring option costs $29.95 per month.
PROS
- Generous coverage of 2 adults and ALL the dependents
- Offers 3-bureau credit monitoring for only $5 more than IDShield's cheaper plan
- Has all the essentials plus sex offender watch and extensive social media monitoring
- Added features such as Parental Device Controls and Cyberbullying Protection
- $1 Million identity theft insurance coverage for unrecovered costs
CONS
- The price can be a bit expensive for some families
We appreciate this straightforward approach from IDShield because it makes it easier for consumers to decide which plan is best for their needs.
What's interesting is that both plans offer the same family-oriented features like:
- child SSN monitoring
- child personal information monitoring
- child credit monitoring
- child dark web monitoring
- credit freeze
We also liked added features, such as extensive social media monitoring and sex offender watch.
Both plans also offer child full-service restoration in case of identity theft and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance coverage for unrecovered costs.
There are also some extra features IDShield offers that we believe can make it more attractive for families.
One is Parental Device Controls, which allow adults to filter and block content on their children's devices.
Another stand-out feature is Cyberbullying Protection, wherein the company will give you or your child guidance on how to navigate the situation and reduce the negative impact of bullying.
But one of the best features of this plan is that it covers all your dependents below 18 years old. Unlike other plans that limit the number of minors that can be included in the plan, IDShield doesn’t have any limits.
So if the two plans offer the same family features, why then did we recommend the more expensive option?
We feel that for around $5 more, getting the IDShield 3-credit bureau monitoring for your family is already a good deal. With other providers, this upgrade will set you back a lot more.
Identity Force UltraSecure + Credit Family
Best For: Large families who need comprehensive identity theft protection with 3 bureau credit monitoring.
Price: $35.90 per month
Coverage: 2 Adults and Unlimited Children
If you have a comprehensive family protection plan in mind, the Identity Force UltraSecure + Credit Family plan should be on your radar. It offers an impressive mix of features that can give you peace of mind when it comes to your family's identity theft protection.
This plan will set you back $35.90 per month, which is a bit pricier than other providers. But you can be guaranteed that every single feature you're looking for when it comes to ID theft protection is right there.
PROS
- Offers 3 bureau credit monitoring for the whole family
- Generous coverage of 2 adults and unlimited children
- Has comprehensive features for adults and children
CONS
- The website does not list the current price for family plans, you have to call for the exact price
- $1 Million insurance coverage is only for out-of-pocket costs and lost wages
With this plan, you also get 3 bureau credit monitoring so you can keep an eye on your family's credit report and score.
It has the needed family features, such as:
- child SSN monitoring
- child personal information monitoring
- sex offender watch
- child credit monitoring
- child dark web monitoring
- child full-service restoration
This plan also offers $1 million in identity theft insurance coverage to recover out-of-pocket costs and lost wages. This is one disadvantage because other plans with a $1 million insurance offer stolen funds reimbursement, while this one does not.
While the website lists down the price of individual plans, we noticed that it does not currently advertise the price for Family Plans.
We had to dig deeper to find out the cost of the family plan options. We then had to call the number advertised and sign up to actually be able to review the product.
There is a cheaper Identity Force Family Plan which is called UltraSecure Family, but this option doesn’t include credit monitoring. We don't really recommend this plan because credit monitoring is a must-have for any family identity theft protection plan.
We added this plan to the list because we believe that it's a great option if you want a fully-packed family identity theft protection plan.
This is actually head-to-head with the IDShield Family Plan when it comes to features and price. If price is not an issue, then this is one of the best plans for families that you can consider.Â
Allstate Identity Protection Premiere Family
Best For: Families who want to include members of the family who are not necessarily minors. Great for older families with senior members and those not very much concerned with credit monitoring.
Price: $34.99 per month
Coverage: 10 Family Members
What if your children are all grown up and you still want to protect them? Or perhaps you have adults and seniors in your family that you want to include in your identity theft protection plan?
This is usually the struggle of many individuals who want to protect family members who aren’t necessarily minors.
If you’re in the same situation, then you might want to check out the Allstate Identity Protection Premiere Family plan.
PROS
- Can protect up to 10 family members in a single subscription
- Offers features that are unique and not commonly found in other plans
- Has the needed features for comprehensive protection
CONS
- $1 Million identity theft insurance coverage is only for expenses
- Stolen funds reimbursement is only up to $50,000
- Credit monitoring features are not very clear
This plan offers protection for up to 10 family members, in a single subscription. This means that even if your children are above 18, or you have senior parents, you can still enroll them in your plan and receive the same level of protection.
It has the needed family features such as SSN monitoring, personal information monitoring, social media monitoring, sex offender watch, dark web monitoring, and more. It also offers $1 million insurance coverage, as well as assistance when it comes to restoring stolen identities.
But there are also some additional features that we think make this plan unique, especially if you have dependents who are in college or seniors.
For example, Student Loan Monitoring can be a useful feature if one or more of your family members are in college. It can help detect if someone tries to open a new account or make changes to an existing student loan, in your family member's name.
Meanwhile, the 401k Transaction Monitoring can be useful for seniors who might be more vulnerable to scams and fraud. This feature can help detect any unauthorized changes or transactions made in a family member's 401k account.
Of course, not all plans are perfect and Allstate is no exception. One of the drawbacks of this plan is that the credit monitoring features are not very clear.
It’s stated on the website that this plan offers credit monitoring but there are no specific details as to what type of monitoring it is and how many bureau reports are included.
We also noticed that the $1 million insurance for identity theft only covers out-of-pocket expenses. There’s a separate Stolen Funds Reimbursement feature that only guarantees up to $50,000. What does this mean?
It means that if you lose money in your bank account or credit card because of identity theft, this plan will only reimburse you up to $50,000. This limitation is a downside, considering that stolen funds are one of the biggest threats when it comes to identity theft.
Another drawback is the price, which is a bit on the high side compared to other plans. But considering that you can add even 10 adults to this plan, we think that the price is still reasonable.
Overall, this plan is a sensible choice if you want to protect multiple family members regardless of age in a single subscription. The features are comprehensive and the price is reasonable, considering the number of people that you can include in the plan.
ID Watchdog Premium + FamilyÂ
Best For: Solo parents or families with adult children below 26 years old and senior members. Families who need to get regular credit score updates.
Price: $34.95 per month
Coverage: 2 Adults (any family member in the same household) and 4 Children under 26 years old
ID Watchdog is an identity protection service provider associated with Equifax. Equifax is one of the three major credit reporting bureaus in the US, so we think that this gives this company a bit more credibility compared to other independent providers.
When it comes to their family plans, there are two plans to choose from and this ID Watchdog Premium + Family plan is the more expensive option at $34.95.
PROS
- 3 Bureau Credit Monitoring
- Daily VantageScore Credit Score Access
- $1 million identity theft insurance coverage includes expenses and unrecoverable stolen funds
- $1 million 401k/HSA Reimbursement for stolen funds
- Adults can be any member of the household and children can be up to 26 years old
CONS
- Price is on the high side
The basic family plan which is ID Watchdog Select + Family costs $23.95. When checking out these two plans, however, we felt that the cheaper plan has a lot of features missing that are quite basic when it comes to family protection.
We considered the ID Watchdog Premium + Family plan because it does have the required protection that families need. It includes all the basics, from credit monitoring and child credit lock to dark web surveillance and even social media monitoring.
In terms of credit monitoring, this Premium plan offers 3-bureau credit monitoring. You can also get an update of your VantageScore credit score daily, which is a plus if you want to keep track of your credit score regularly.
Another great feature that we noticed is that this is the only plan on our list that provides a $1 Million reimbursement for stolen funds coming from employer-sponsored retirement accounts, health savings accounts, and employee stock option plans.
So if you have money stolen from your HSA or 401k account, you can get reimbursement. This feature is on top of the $1 million identity theft insurance coverage for expenses and unrecoverable stolen funds.
We also liked that this plan allows you to add any member of the household as the second adult and the 4 children allowance can be dependents up to 26 years old. This makes it ideal for solo parents or those with kids in college.
The only drawback that we can think of is the price, which is on the high side. However, the price is quite comparable to other premium plans on this, with the added advantage of getting 3 bureau credit monitoring and daily VantageScore access.
LifeLock Standard for Family and Kids
Best For: Families who need basic identity theft protection with 1 credit bureau monitoring.
Price: $21.99 per month on the first year (renews at $35.99 in the 2nd year)
Coverage: 2 Adults and 5 Kids
Not everyone likes to have all the bells and whistles. Sometimes you just want to have that sense of security without all the extras.
This is where LifeLock Standard comes in. LifeLock is one of the more popular and well-known companies when it comes to identity theft protection.
The LifeLock Standard plan is one of the most basic plans that they offer, but it still has all the features you would need for comprehensive protection.
PROS
- Basic identity theft features at a reasonable price point
- $1 million insurance coverage for lawyers and experts
- Coverage for 2 adults and 5 kids
CONS
- Extensive features are only available on the more expensive plans
- Stolen funds reimbursement is only up to $25,000
- Price increase on the second year of subscription
This plan costs $21.99 per month for the first year. For the price, you get pretty decent protection for up to 2 adults and 5 kids in your household.
Some features include Identity and Social Security Number alerts for each member of the family, 1-bureau credit monitoring only for the adults, and credit file detection for each child. Other notable family features include dark web monitoring, ID verification monitoring, and data breach notification.
In case of identity theft, this plan provides up to $1 million for lawyers and experts. When it comes to stolen funds or personal expense compensation, the maximum amount you can reimburse is only $25,000. We think that this is one disadvantage because other plans do offer much higher stolen funds reimbursement with some even guaranteeing up to $1 million.
Another downside of this plan is the price point. This may seem like an affordable option because some of the plans on our shortlist are on the higher side. However, the website indicates that the $21.99 per month price tag is only valid for the first year.
In the second year, if you don't cancel, you would have to pay $35.99 per month. At this price point, we believe that choosing the other plans from other providers makes more sense as they offer more features.
Of course, there are higher family plan options from LifeLock that offer more comprehensive coverage. There is a LifeLock Advantage at $35.99 per month (renews at $57.99) and LifeLock Ultimate Plus at $48.99 per month (renews at $79.99).
These two higher-tier plans offer added features such as higher stolen funds reimbursement coverage, crime alert monitoring, phone takeover monitoring, home title monitoring, and more.
So why did we not choose the more premium LifeLock plans if we wanted to have such features? Again, the price point is what deterred us from choosing these plans.
If you factor in the price increase in the second year, you would be looking at $58 to $80 per month which is quite a hefty amount to pay for ID protection.
Zander Essential Family Plan
Best For: Families who are looking for an affordable plan without credit monitoring or those who already have existing credit monitoring service plans.
Price: $12.99 per month
Coverage: Any 2 Adults, Children Free, Adult Dependent Benefits
With its low price point, you might think that this plan doesn't offer much. But surprisingly, it has a lot of features that are available on more expensive plans from other providers.
Zander's Essential Family Plan gives you protection for any 2 adults in your household plus free coverage for all your children. If you have adult dependents, they get benefits too, but it's not clear to what extent.
PROS
- Available at a very affordable price point
- Covers 2 adults, all the children plus adult dependent benefits
- $2,000,000 in coverage for stolen funds and expenses with unlimited recovery services
CONS
- No credit monitoring features are included which is a major feature when it comes to ID theft
The plan covers all types of ID theft, Social Security Number monitoring, home title fraud, unlimited recovery services, personal information dark web monitoring, change of address monitoring, and data breach updates.
You also get $2,000,000 coverage for stolen funds and expenses and unlimited recovery services in case of identity theft when you get the family plan.
After looking at the Zander Essential Family Plan, it seems that they have cherry-picked all the best identity theft protection features for families and put them all in one plan. And the added bonus? The price point at $12.99 per month is a steal.
Even the more expensive option which is the Zander Elite Cyber Bundle only comes with a price tag of $19.49 a month, still lower than most of the family plans from the providers. This plan offers extra features like VPN, antivirus, Experian credit lock, and account monitoring.
One major downside, however, is that the Zander Essential Family Plan doesn't come with credit monitoring. Even the Elite Cyber Bundle does not offer that.
So you would have to get that from another provider if you want to keep track of your credit score and report.
This is still a great option for people looking for affordable identity theft protection services without credit monitoring. Or those who already have existing credit monitoring services and want to avail of this as an add-on.
IMPORTANT: Size and Age Do Matter!
When choosing an Identity Theft Plan for your family, make sure to read the fine print of how many family members you can include in the plan. Some companies have a limit to the number of people you can enroll, while others will let you include an unlimited number of family members.
When it comes to age limits, some plans will also only allow minors, while others will let you include adults as well. Choose the plan that best suits your family's needs to get the best value!
Get the Best Identity Theft Protection for Your Family
Protecting your family's identity is important and it can be daunting to pick out the best one with the best value. With our review, we hope we were able to help you narrow down your choices.
Aidan has been writing about personal finance for over 6 years. Prior to this, he worked as a Corporate Finance Analyst where he specialized in Due Diligence, Company Valuations and more. He is a CFA charterholder.
