I'm moving from the UK to the US later this year.  My relocation
company has suggested something called "Inward bound", provided by AIG
insurance.  This is a travel insurance, which also provides a transfer
of thigns like credit history and driving record, to allow these to
exist in the USA when I arrive.  It costs $400 (plus same again for my
wife).

My question is - is this worth it, and are there any
alternatives/competitors?  I can't seem to find any reviews or
opinions of people that have used it.

Thanks,

MO

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Clarification of Question by movinout-ga on 27 Jun 2006 04:14 PDT

Gah!  It's not called "inward bound", it's called "inbound USA".  It's
described here: https://www.aig-is.com/html/inbound_main.html

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Clarification of Question by movinout-ga on 23 Jul 2006 09:41 PDT

The big thing that seems to make this worth it is the car insurance. 
They bring your car insurance record and driving record with you,
which makes insurance much cheaper - this appears to save the $400.

However, is there another way?

Thanks.

I was hit by an AIG insured motorist. I gotta say, AIG was an
excellent company, prompt and VERY fair.

Under their insurance they say :

|Accident & Sickness Medical Insurance: In the event of an illness or
injury where non-surgical or surgical treatment is required, members
and their eligible dependent children can be reimbursed for up to 80%
of expenses for the first $5,000 and 100% for every dollar
thereafter.|

To me that sounds like a lousy offer, note the 'non-surgical' bit.

They are selling car insurance, probably as brokers.

These are the 'core benefits' :-

US Driver's License and Social Security Application Help 
Utility Setup Assistance 
24-Hour Emergency Translation 
Personal security services from red24, a leading global security consultancy. 
$25,000 Accidental Death & Dismemberment Coverage 
$50,000 Medical Evacuation Services 
$10,000 Repatriation of Remains Coverage 
$2,500 Personal Internet Identity Coverage 
Worldwide Assistance Services 

Personally I don't consider those worth $400 ( or GBP 220 in our terms )

To fix my credit, I would get an AMEX card in the UK, also a
VISA/Mastercard from a US based issuer operating in the UK.
Alternatively (or also) I would check up with my UK Bank about
branches/subsidiaries in the USA.

Since you'll probably be renting at first, help with utilities is a
bit of a waste of time
- and for a UK English speaker 24-Hour Emergency Translation is useless
I suspect that your relocation company gets a nice bung for
recommending these services

You are probably relocating to a company, if they don't provide
medical benefits and don't give you a few pointers to housing and
insurance brokers, then I would be very surprized.

Hi Frde-ga,

Thanks for that comment.  The only thing I want is the credit history
- the bank won't transfer this (I've got an HSBC account, and when I
asked them about moving to HSBC USA, they said "Phone the bank in the
US"), and the transfer of driving history - this seems to knock a lot
off the insurance, because otherwise I look like a new driver, with no
insurance or experience.

That AIG stuff smells like a con to me

With the HSBC, I would kick sh*t
If I remember correctly they have recently bought a vulture lender in the USA
- just ask your UK contact for a USA contact
  (after you have got their name and direct line number)

Realistically, knowing a little about insurance, companies actually
pay to get specialist clients like you.

As for the credit history, probabably you will be selling up in the UK
and taking a wad out there.

Oddly building up credit history is by borrowing
- it can be short circuited by personal contact

Give that HSBC person hell

I hope all goes well
- the USA is low on my migration list, but maybe I just saw the tackier side