It seems to have stopped those annoying piracy letters from my internet provider.
I haven't seen one of those in years. But I get most of my stuff from a private tracker.
I'd just change providers in that case.
While it's plausible to believe that all VPNs are actually honeypots for the police to catch criminals, getting sued over torrenting something is a civil case.
In this case, the hope is that your VPN won't accept money from media rights holders, in exchange for your data.
If you don't want to trust or pay for a VPN, set up your own: