The facts are clear: identity theft is one of the fastest rising crimes in America, affecting 10 million people each year. And when consumers look for identity theft solutions, they look to the insurance industry – even more so than banks or credit card companies, according to a new NAIC poll. It's not hard to imagine why. After all, who else has the infrastructure in place to provide this type of assistance?

Insurance companies typically offer one of two types of identity theft-related policies. The first and more familiar is expense coverage. Typically attached to a homeowner's policy, this endorsement provides a specified reimbursement, subject to a deductible, for the costs associated with reestablishing the victim's identity. While valuable, expense coverage is a limited solution to a complex problem. However, for consumers and insurance companies alike, identity management services are an even more comprehensive proposition.

The latter type of service provides a professional to help consumers more expediently resolve fraud-related damage done to their credit and identities (left unchecked, bad credit can prevent victims from having access to mortgages, car loans and other borrowing opportunities). Identity management services wouldn't be complete, however, without offering identity theft education, a feature that has been shown to improve retention, increase customer satisfaction and attract new customers via word-of-mouth advertising. Identity theft education bolsters an insurance offering's value and more importantly, its personalization – an attribute greatly appreciated by consumers as they try to make sense of the often-confusing world of consumer fraud.