American Express Property Casualty Company

[October 5th, 2005] We've all seen ads where an insurance company promises a better deal. Well, Cynthia Hymer learned there's a catch when she signed up with this week's Rogue, American Express Property Casualty Company .

The story begins in July 2003, when Hymer saw an ad at Costco that promised cheap homeowner's insurance. She got a quote from Amex for $508 a year-about $80 less than she was paying for insurance from State Farm. The 42-year-old mail carrier made the jump.

A month later, Amex did a drive-by appraisal of her four-bedroom home in St. Johns, deciding it was actually worth $257,000-$100,000 more than she'd paid for it a few months before. The results: Hymer's premium got jacked up 29 percent, and she was furious.

"You're a bunch of lying, scamming scumbags," she recalls telling them on the phone.

Amex was unswayed. In April 2004, with Hymer still refusing to pay the additional premium, they canceled her policy.

A month later, Hymer's home burned to the ground. Hymer and her two children checked into a hotel, and she called Amex to file a claim. But an agent told her the coverage had ended the month before (the cancellation notice didn't arrive until a week after the fire)

"One would think that I would just give up," Hymer says. But she didn't. "I am stubborn. I roll."

She sued Amex in Multnomah County court. When the company couldn't produce its appraisal at trial, and Hymer did produce an appraisal suggesting the rate hike was unjust, the jury on Sept. 14 delivered a unanimous verdict: breach of contract. It awarded Hymer about $350,000 to cover the replacement cost of her house and property, as well as lawyer fees and reimbursement for rent she's been paying on an apartment.

Susan Austin, a spokesperson for Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance (the new name for American Express Property Casualty Company) said the company is just glad the case has been settled.

But it may not be. Hymer's attorney, Fred Millard, says he suspects his client isn't alone. If he can find other victims, he plans to file a class-action lawsuit in federal court.