CHICAGO - Virginia Surety Company, Inc., a unit of The Warranty Group, Inc., announced an agreement with EZShield, a provider of identity protection, to provide benefits for its financial institution offering.

The agreement includes ID Theft Expense Reimbursement as an added benefit to EZShield's ID Protection Services.

Dale Dabbs, CEO of EZShield stated, "Given the growing epidemic of identity theft affecting individuals and businesses alike, we are excited to partner with Virginia Surety Company to offer a comprehensive ID Theft package to help restore the identity of fraud victims. The package brings together our award-winning ID Restoration service complemented by VSC's ID Theft Insurance. We are pleased to extend this service to help safeguard our customers' financial security - a critical step in the movement to fight identity theft."

According to Mike Frosch, President and COO of The Warranty Group, "The costs associated with identity theft can be significant, and together with EZShield's ID protection services, this protection will help minimize the expense and effort to repair the damage that can occur."

The program is available in all states except Florida.