Zander Insurance Review 2021: Budget-Friendly Identity Theft Protection

We’ve checked this page to make sure everything is up to date and we still stand by our recommendation.

Zander provides solid, budget-friendly restoration services in the event that your identity is stolen. It doesn’t have any credit monitoring options, but it’s a good option for identity monitoring and recovery.

Best budget protection
Zander
Our rating:
4.1 out of 5.0
4.1 out of 5 stars4.1
Customer service
3.8 out of 5 stars3.8
Product
3.5 out of 5 stars3.5
Price
5 out of 5 stars5.0
Plans start at 
$6.75
/mo.

    Data effective 12/23/2019. Offers and availability subject to change.

    Overview

    Zander Insurance has identity theft services that focus less on monitoring and more on recovering your identity. Fortunately, its recovery services are super comprehensive.

    In the event that your identity is stolen, Zander gives you everything you need to recover it—and you won’t have to do it alone. With the help of a caseworker, Zander will restore your credit file to its pre-theft status, notifying the three major credit bureaus, affected creditors, and the IRS of the identity theft event. 

    ASL Insider Tip
    Our Choice
    Zander also comes with a notable stamp of approval. Radio host and money-management expert Dave Ramsey has endorsed Zander Insurance for the last 20 years. In fact, Zander is the only identity theft protection service that Ramsey recommends.
    Still, Zander doesn’t offer any credit monitoring, so don’t expect to check your credit score or keep up with your financial records with your Zander plan. If you’re looking for a company that offers more thorough credit monitoring with its identity theft protection services, we recommend IdentityForce.

    Zander pros and cons

    Pros
    • Pro BulletInexpensive plans
    • Pro BulletAffordable coverage for families
    • Pro BulletUnlimited coverage for kids
    • Pro Bullet24/7 customer service
    • Pro BulletExpenses and lost wages reimbursement
    Cons
    • Con BulletNo credit monitoring option
    • Con BulletNo bank or credit account alerts
    • Con BulletNo Zander Insurance mobile app

    Compare Zander plans

    Data effective 12/23/2019. Offers and availability subject to change.

    Zander plans and pricing

    Zander’s pricing is affordable at both tiers. Individual plans are priced at $6.75 per month, or $75 yearly. Family plans are priced at $12.90 per month, or $145 per year.

    Both plans cover the same types of things (which we’ll get to in a bit)—the only difference between them is how many people they cover. If you have a spouse, partner, or kids, you should consider the Zander family plan. It covers all children in your family up to the age of 18, with Social Security number  and personal information monitoring, recovery services and reimbursement, and wallet protection.

    Plus, if you have any adult dependents, they’ll get some protection too. Dependent adult children up to age 26 are eligible for recovery services, reimbursement, and lost wallet protection.

    How Zander compares

    Compared to other identity theft protection services, Zander is supremely affordable. Experian IdentityWorks offers basic identity and credit monitoring starting at $9.99 per month for individuals and $19.99 per month for families. And IdentityForce’s most similar plan—IdentityForce UltraSecure—offers pretty thorough identity monitoring, but memberships start at $17.95 per month for individuals and $23.95 per month for families.

    The reason for Zander’s lower prices is that Zander focuses primarily on restoring your identity and less on monitoring your credit for potential identity threats. It’s a great low-cost pick if you want to focus on getting your life back after your identity is stolen.


    Zander features

    Zander’s coverage focuses on two things: identity monitoring and identity theft recovery.

    Zander monitoring services

    Zander’s monitoring services are somewhat limited, but they still help minimize the chances that your identity will be stolen. Zander will monitor your personal information online, address change requests, and your Social Security number.

    Other identity theft services, like IdentityGuard, will also monitor your social media, court records, and any mention of your name or information on the dark web. And most other brands also throw in some sort of basic credit monitoring—like daily or monthly access to your credit score and report. Zander doesn’t offer any of these features at all.

    Zander recovery benefits

    Fortunately, Zander’s recovery services are much more comprehensive than a lot of the competition’s. If your identity is stolen, Zander gives you a Recovery Advocate. They will be essentially your go-to person who will manage your case, create a unique recovery plan, and walk you through the process of restoring your identity from start to finish.

    Your Recovery Advocate helps you get back on track by taking specific steps:

    • Restoring your credit file to pre-theft status
    • Notifying the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—of fraud and your identity theft status
    • Notifying affected creditors, government agencies, the IRS, and medical institutions of the identity theft
    • Determining potential areas of fraud in your credit report
    • Placing fraud alerts

    As a bonus, your case worker will also follow up for 36 months after your case is resolved to ensure your identity was fully recovered. This level of service is what makes Zander stand out in the industry—no other company does all this for its customers.

    Zander also offers significant financial reimbursement. It will repay you up to $1 million for any stolen funds, expenses, and legal costs. It’ll even reimburse you for lost wages—so if you took off any time from work to get your identity back on track, Zander will pay you back for it.

    Zander will even reimburse you for lost wages—so if you took any time from work to get your identity back on track, Zander will pay you back for it.

    Zander lost wallet protection

    If you’re looking to preemptively lessen a potential financial burden, Zander also has a helpful lost wallet protection perk. So if you lose your wallet or if it gets stolen, Zander will help cancel your cards and reorder any new debit or credit cards, identification cards, health insurance cards, and more.

    Zander life insurance

    Outside of identity theft protection, Zander also offers term life insurance policies . You can get a life insurance quote  instantly on Zander’s website.


    Zander customer service

    Availability

    Zander has a decent customer service reputation with 24/7 availability by phone and email. But patience is required: some customers say that getting in touch with a representative over the phone takes time and perseverance. Some report long wait times and dropped phone calls.

    Contracts and cancellation policies

    If you decide against using Zander within the first 14 days of your plan and you haven’t yet used any recovery services, Zander will provide you with a full refund. Otherwise, you can cancel at any time with a monthly plan, or at the end of the full 12-month period if you have a yearly subscription.

    Zander vs. the competition

    Data effective 3/1/2021. Offers and availability subject to change.

    Overall, Zander has great value. It’s significantly cheaper than the competition because Zander sticks to mastering identity theft restoration. Plans from IdentityForce and Experian are more comprehensive, but as long as you’re not looking for any credit monitoring, Zander is a good bet.

    Zander also offers $1 million in reimbursement for both individual and family memberships. Other brands, like Experian, offer that perk only with their most expensive plans.

    Our recommendation

    Zander has limited identity theft monitoring coverage, but its recovery services are comprehensive and thorough. It’s also super affordable and offers plans for both individuals and families. We recommend it as a budget-friendly option, especially if you’re more interested in recovery services than preventive measures.

    >>Get protection. Choose your Zander Insurance plan now.

    If you’d rather keep an eye on your identity and your credit with one plan, we recommend IdentityForce. IdentityForce offers comprehensive identity monitoring, solid credit protection, and reasonable plans starting at $17.95 a month.

    >>Protect your identity. Get IdentityForce today.

    Want to see how the rest of the competition compares? Check out our picks for the best identity theft protection services.