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Your identity is a valuable commodity - you need it to function in everyday life. You need evidence of who you are to open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, finance, loans and mortgages, to obtain goods or services, or to claim benefits.

Identity pretend to be you, steal your personal details and use them to buy goods and services in your name. Last year there were 65,000 cases of identity fraud. It costs the economy £1.2 billion per year.

In his One Show film on the subject, Dom Littlewood advises us to to be extra careful with our personal info. He said to:

Shred sensitive documents.
Check bank statements for any discrepancies.
Check credit reports once a year.

Identity fraud insurance - is it worth it?

Many banks and credit cards sell some kind of identity fraud insurance. It can cost up to £80 a year. Is it worth it?

Cathy Neal from Which? told Dom that most banks sign up to . Under this code of conduct, they have to refund customers' money if it is taken fraudulently - so people have already got insurance, even though they may not realise it.

She added that a feature of many identity fraud insurances is that they enable a customer to view their credit report, which will reveal whether a criminal has made applications for bank accounts, credit cards or loans in their name. Cathy pointed out that customers can access their credit reports themselves, for a small fee, from each of the .

She concluded that identity fraud insurance is not really worth the high cost, even for the peace of mind.

The agree that customers are covered by the Banking Code, but add: "Identity protection policies may offer additional protection" "but people should read the conditions carefully to see if it is the right product for them."

for the government's identity theft advice website.

What are your experiences of identity theft? Do you have fraud prevention hints and tips that you'd like to share?

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