Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Protecting Your Identity in Emergency Situations

Many consumers are taking the necessary steps to protect their identity. One thing a lot of us do not think about is how to protect ourselves during an emergency situation. These situations can include things like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires or even man-made disasters. During these times there is typically a lot of chaos, but there are a lot of thieves that take advantage of those situations. They will break into your home, steal your personal belongings, and even steal items so that they can use your identity. To help protect yourself from identity theft in a moment of chaos, there are a few steps that every consumer should take:

Every consumer should be prepared for a possible evacuation. Whether you are in a fire zone or a secluded area where disasters rarely happen, you need to be prepared. There are specific items that you should store photocopies of in a large envelope or secured lock box.

* Birth certificates
* Current photograph
* Copies of your driver’s license
* Copies of your social security card
* Any death certificates in your family
* Insurance papers that should include deeds, property records, and personal insurance records
* Vital records such as marriage certificates, immigration papers, etc.
* Financial account information so that if you need to access them without your debit card, you have the right information on hand
* Any brief medical histories and a copy of medical insurance cards

If your family is going to be evacuated for a disaster or other emergency, there are steps you need to take to ensure your personal information is not exposed to potential thieves:

* Place your envelope or lock box with your copied information in your car only when you are ready to actually evacuate. There are a lot of thieves that will rob or loot vehicles that are left standing during disaster evacuations. You may need these papers to identify yourself in a disaster situation; therefore you need to protect them.

* Keep your envelope or lock box within your sight at all times. If you are evacuated to a shelter, keep that box with you or with another family member and never let it out of your sight. Never trust anyone except your immediate family to care for this information.

* Another step in protecting your identity during an evacuation is to not leave your computer behind. Many thieves will enter homes after they have been evacuated and steal hard drives or laptops. With those pieces of equipment they can steal your identity. If you are in a time crunch, remove the hard drive from your computer and be sure to package up any laptops to take with you. Hard drives are easy to remove from your desktop and literally can be done within just a few seconds.

Protecting yourself during a disaster is essential for your identity. Though it is a time for tragedy, realize that there are people out there ready to take advantage of such situations. Protect yourself and your family by following the steps in this guide. Be prepared for disaster to strike at any time so you are not caught trying to do these steps in a dire situation. Written by id theft protection.

Read more...

Shelter Your Car from Heat and Rain with Carport Kits

Getting inside your car when rain is pouring is not the most convenient thing to do. Even if you have an umbrella, you’re still bound to get wet one way or another. It’s also not easy to get into a car that’s been lying under the scorching heat of the sun all day. These two scenarios are what people who don’t have roofed garages go through most of the time.

It’s a good thing there are carport kits which solves the problem of car owners who don’t have roofs over their garages. That used to be our problem too, except that half of our car was covered with a roof while the other half wasn’t. But we have remedied that with a carport that we attached to the small roof so now getting in and out of the car when it’s raining or when the heat is blistering is no problem anymore.

There are flat panel freestanding carport kits for houses which don’t have roofed garages. They simply need to be cemented at least 2 feet into the ground for durability. They come in 7 colors which homeowners can choose from and are made of high-grade aluminum so you can be sure that they won’t be susceptible to wear and tear. A carport is something all car owners must have to provide year round shelter to their cars at the most affordable prices.   

Read more...

About This Blog

Blog Archive

  © Free Blogger Templates Blogger Theme by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP