CarShield has closed the loop that regulators and reviewers, including this site, have spent years pointing at.
The company announced on August 4, 2026 that it had completed the acquisition of American Auto Shield, the Lakewood, Colorado administrator that approves and pays claims on the contracts CarShield sells. Auto Remarketing confirmed the deal on August 7. American Auto Shield keeps its name and its claims operation; the combined business has about 1,500 employees, cites more than 3 million customers served and more than $1 billion in claims paid, and 45 years of combined history.
“By bringing vehicle service contract administration in-house, we’re creating a more seamless, responsive, and efficient process,” said CarShield CEO Nick Hamilton. American Auto Shield president Jason Currier called it “an exciting new chapter.”
Why the seller-versus-payer question mattered
Every vehicle service contract has a seller who takes your money and an administrator who decides whether a repair is covered. When they are different companies, a disputed claim means arguing with a firm you never chose. CarShield was the most prominent example: it sold the plans, American Auto Shield paid them, and the two were legally separate even though CarShield had described AAS as “a CarShield company” for years.
The FTC’s 2024 complaint named both. CarShield and American Auto Shield paid $10 million to settle charges that the advertising overstated what plans covered, and the FTC mailed $9.6 million in refunds to 168,179 customers in December 2025. That consent order binds the merged company exactly as it bound the two.
What changes for customers
According to CarShield, nothing on existing contracts: same coverage, same phone numbers, same claims process. The change is structural. From now on the company that sold you the plan is also the company that pays the claim, which is how Endurance and Toco already operate and is the model we weight most heavily in our ranking.
It does not change the other reasons for caution. CarShield remains a broker in the sense that its contracts are still issued by AAS as obligor, the May 2025 class action over sales practices was sent to arbitration in May 2026, and the contract we reviewed caps claims at $10,000 per term.
Where it sits now
CarShield holds second place in our best extended car warranty companies ranking as the pick for high-mileage vehicles, with the FTC history stated plainly on its card. Owning its administrator strengthens the case; it does not erase the record.