Need lowdown on canceling credit cards

[Anonymous]

Hi, my name is Lynn.  Over the past 15 years, I have accumulated 7 credit cards, most of which I do not need.  I've posted about this subject before and I usually get conflicting answers from people.  My car insurance will not give me a lower rate because I have too many credit cards- I have AAA Michigan.  First, are there any car insurance companies out there that don't care how many credit cards you own?  And second, I want to cancel 3 of the cards I don't use- one's for Midas, The Gap, and an Exxon/ Mobil gas card.  I've cut all three of those up and haven't used them in ages.  Most people tell me not to cancel, but now that there is new credit card legislation thanks to our President-can I cancel a card without a penalty to my FICO SCORE????  My score is 743.  I have never been in debt so far but I did make one late payment that was beyond my control, I was in the hospital and noone could help me with it.  Is there any way I can write an explanation on my report of why it was late or possibly get it erased without resorting to a law firm to go through all the red tape for me, as I can't afford to do that?  I know I'm asking some tough questions, however, I really need to hear some sound ideas and beliefs about how I can improve this situation without jeopardizing my score.  Please respond, especially if you've gone through something similar to this and it turned out all right.  Thank you very much!!!!

[llecs]

Check out Closing Credit Cards.

Unfortunately there can be adverse effects in closing a CC and that's based on your mix of credit and the impact of utilization across your other cards if you carry balances. In the long term, your history can drop when they fall off your CRs in about 10 yrs.

I've never heard of anyone being denied due to too many CCs. Now I've heard, and have been guilty of myself, of having too many cards carrying balances. I carry 15 CCs right now (well, not carry...all but two are shelved), but I never ran into any issues.

If I was in your situation I would pull my CRs prior to applying or requesting a lower premium. I would make payments on my CCs to make sure that all but one CC reported $0 and leave a very small balance on the other. That would guarantee a max score (and scoring may not be an issue at all....I got car insurance with FICOs in the 500s). If they denied my request again due to "having too many CCs", then I would write their exec. offices (e.g. to the pres.) and tell them that while I enjoyed using their services, and while my driving history is great (or improving if you had issues in the past), I was really hoping to get a rate reduction and that their response to me with "having too many CCs" is bogus since my balances are near $0. I'd further explain that their response is a slap in the face to this loyal customer. I'd give them one more try and then I'll consider loooking elsewhere to do business. After I fire off that letter, I would shop somewhere else for insurance. You won't have any problems. It may be in the end that you are better off staying with them. After a while they won't decrease rates and they'll come up with any bogus reason to prevent a rate drop.