I just went to their site to get more info and got the following message: Effective August 1, 2005, the American Express Property Casualty companies are Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance. Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance is underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company or IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company, De Pere, WI. Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Ameriprise Financial, Inc., expected to become independent of American Express on or after September 30, 2005. Learn more about this change, other changes to names of certain affiliated companies, and the anticipated separation from American Express Company by clicking on the Corporate Entities and Important Disclosures link at the bottom of this page. All other information on this site remains the same and does not change. I understand that some American Express companies and businesses have changed their names and that, for my convenience, I will see this message only once. Sounds like AmEx insurance isn't going to be AmEx for much longer . . . maybe not a good time to switch. tom418 - As far as AmEx being strict, thats kind of what I'm getting at. If they are so strict when it comes time to file a claim that they are hard to work with, it probably is not worth the switch. I don't have any first hand experience, but I've heard many times that is how AAA is, atleast here in California, even when working with their own policyholders. And you are right earthworm, a lot of times their is a catch to saving money and you do get what you pay for. I like your idea of a fill-in-the-blank form, but I'm sure they'd just laugh and hand it back.

Everything I've seen/heard about this is not to cancel credit cards. Cancelling them does affect your credit scores. That said, at one point I had 3 separate credit cards issued by the same bank. I use only one and pay the balance in full every month. I have received letters from the bank requesting that I either use the cards or said cards would be cancelled effective 30 days of the receipt of said letter. I didn't use them, and those accounts have been cancelled. DH hates credit cards and prefers to pay cash for purchases. I did check with the 3 credit bureaus regarding whether the cancellation by the bank for lack of use of those two cards would affect our credit scores. All three claimed that it would not, and I did manage to obtain fax confirmation of that assurance. I did pull reports at 90 days after their cancellation, and our scores hadn't changed. Unless the card company contacts you about cancelling for lack of use, I wouldn't cancel.

I was told many years ago by the owner of multiple car dealerships, that one should always be vague about how one intends to pay for a car. When asked how one wants to finance it, just say "I haven't decided yet - might be cash, might be finance, might be a lease. He said the most important thing to establish is the PRICE at which they will sell one the car!!!! Once the price is established, then one can explore various financing/leasing options or even paying cash. Often, the car company itself will offer very attractive deals both with purchasing a car and leasing one. It is rare that a bank/credit union etc can beat these rates. This dealer of expensive European cars said that in his opinion, one should only pay cash if it's paid for out of an annual bonus - money one never actually had - no selling off of stocks etc. If that's not an option, he believed strongly in leasing. This is what I have done for the past 14 years and it has worked very well for me. I do think leasing is far better when it's an expensive European car as leases are based on the residual value at the end of the lease, and they hold their value far better than an American or other car does. Some Japanese brands also hold their value well. European cars also typically come with a 4 year, 48,000 mile warranty, so unless one puts a ton of miles on a car per year, it is always under warranty. I like that! Pre-buying scheduled maintenance can also be a good deal, especially on a European car where such is usually very costly. I save hundreds of dollars by doing that.

Very true Carol, cars are getting bigger and heavier. People are moving more to Trucks and SUV's and both are getting bigger. New model pickups are looking like billboards in the front and a fad similar to the fins on the cars in the 50's. Heavier too, the bigger size takes more materials, and electric cars weigh in at about 30% more than it's counterpart gas engine vehicle. You also have a good eye on those tires because they are getting bigger making those new huge cars look proportional. I got a big one, it's huge! The engine roars and tuned for performance, but when I wake up and look out the window all I see is a kia Rio.