Most of us would agree that what you say and do on Facebook
should have no effect on your insurance policies or your rates. But the truth is more complicated. Your Facebook actions can have an effect on
your insurance rates and coverages in some circumstances. And my guess is that the impact will only
grow over time.
I want to begin by assuring you that as of this moment, I am
not aware of an insurance company that using Facebook as an underwriting tool
for personal insurance policies such as home insurance and auto insurance. There may come a time when they automate that
process and if so, will begin to use it if they can. Insurance for businesses though is a very
different scenario. Businesses want to
attract people to their FB pages and so their Facebook information is easy for
anyone to see. Commercial insurance underwriters will
routinely study a business Facebook page to be sure that they are comfortable
insuring that enterprise. Here is a list
of some of the things you want to consider vis-à-vis your personal insurance
and your safety on Facebook.
Start by understanding that Facebook data is a rich source
of opportunity for crooks and thieves. Once
again, one bad apple spoils everyone else’s fun. But you can still have a great time but not
give up the information so easily. The
thieves are out there looking for the easy targets. So here are some ideas to help keep you from being
the low hanging fruit for the bad people out there who are looking for ways to
steal from you.
You should start with a very strong password. Obviously you don’t want to share that
password with anyone. The strong password will help prevent a thief
from guessing your password based on the information that can be publicly
obtained. Also, while it is ok to show
your birthday, don’t show the year you were born. That is just an invitation for identity
thieves to go to work on you.
Take the time to understand just how the privacy controls
work and try and limit as much access
about yourself to just your friends.
Restrict access to photos, birth date, family information and religious
views. Remember, the more pieces of the
puzzle you give out, the easier it is for a crook to steal from you. It is also a bad idea to post your children’s
names in photos as tags. If someone else
does this, you should ask them to delete the tag. Your
children are the weakest link in the information protection game and letting a
thief link your information to theirs just makes their job all the easier.
This next reminder should be obvious but people break this
rule all of the time. Don’t post the
dates you will be out of town. If you
must share the pics from your recent trip, just wait until you get home to
share them. If you are talking about a
future trip online, be as vague as possible about the actual dates you will be
gone.
Right now, my experience tells me that the things you say
and share on your personal Facebook page are not a threat to your home
insurance rates or your auto
insurance rates. I hear rumors out
there, which I cannot confirm, that some life insurance companies may be trying
to track applicants on Facebook to help decide, based on lifestyle choices,
which applicants should get the preferred rates and which should be charged
more. However, at this point in time, I
think the biggest threat to you at this comes from theives. Please use good common sense with your
Facebook account.
Clinard Insurance
Group is an independent insurance agency located in Winston Salem, NC. We try very hard to pull back the curtain on
the insurance industry so that you can be an informed insurance buyer. If we can help you with your home insurance,
your life
insurance, your auto insurance of even your business
insurance needs, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.
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