Can anyone tell me the difference between "ensure" and "insure" (besides that one is a drink)? Are they interchangeable?

atomica offers this usage note:

Assure, ensure, and insure all mean “to make secure or certain.” Only assure is used with reference to a person in the sense of “to set the mind at rest”: assured the leader of his loyalty. Although ensure and insure are generally interchangeable, only insure is now widely used in American English in the commercial sense of “to guarantee persons or property against risk.”

i tend to almost invariably use and expect 'ensure' unless a specific warranty is expressed or implied. i'm betting sparteye can provide some insight here.

I would use ensure to mean make sure that something happens "Her quick thinking ensured the train left on time." Insure I would use for gambling that a disaster will happen with a company that is gambling that it won't happen, e.g., fire insurance.

Bingley

Yes, I spent a tedious ten minutes this afternoon ensuring that my travel cover would insure me. Given the price charged, I would bet that they see insuring me as a fairly major risk. So I shopped around to ensure myself that the deal they were offering would ensure me the best insurance cover.

'fraid not, mon capitain. It should be: So I shopped around to assure myself that the deal they were offering would ensure me the best insurance cover.

One assures somebody of something or that something is the case.

One ensures that an event will occur.

So, the assistant assured me that we would have enough cover. He convinced me that our cover was sufficient.

The assistant ensured that we would have enough cover. He worked non-stop for forty-eight hours so that our cover would be sufficient.

Bingley

I agree with bingley that in (UK) general usage: assure means to convince or at least assert confidently; ensure means to make certain (that something will happen); and insure means to cover against risk (almost without exception by taking a policy). But there are usages where they sort of overlap. In particular we still have Assurance companies which sell insurance, and which in their documentation sometimes refer to Assuring a life.

Rod

Rod correctly points out that you assure yourself that you will be able to recover from a loss by assuring something, which you do by insuring it, or placing a contract of insurance. So insure and assure are used in this context, but not ensure.

I would agree with rod here, I assure someone of something, I ensure that something happens, and I insure my house/car/life or whatever.

From looking at the above sentence it appears to me that I always use "ensure" with "that". Assure seems to take an "of", though not always. Anyone?

Let's see : have I got this figured? This is how I use them:
Ensure means to make secure.
Insure has a monetary sense.
Assure means to confirm.

P.S. That meal-in-a-can Ensure is very high in fat I think!

I was always told that in commercial matters you take out insurance against something which may or may not happen such as fire or burglary, but you take out assurance in the face of something which will definitely happen, your death.

Bingley

'fraid not, mon capitain. It should be: So I shopped around to assure myself that the deal they were offering would ensure me the best insurance cover.

One assures somebody of something or that something is the case.

One ensures that an event will occur.

So, the assistant assured me that we would have enough cover. He convinced me that our cover was sufficient.

The assistant ensured that we would have enough cover. He worked non-stop for forty-eight hours so that our cover would be sufficient.

Bingley

Pendant!

As to legal usage: in Michigan, versions of the terms "insure" and "ensure" are sometimes used interchangeably. Generally, however, "insure/insurance/insured/insurer" pertain to commercially purchased protection against the risk of loss, while "ensure/ensurance/ensured/ensurer" pertain to guarantees, such as a third-party guaranty of payment under a contract if the principal does not fulfill his obligation, and "assure/assurance/assured/assurer" are sometimes used as alternatives of the "ensure" group. The distinction between an insurer and an ensurer can be really blurred when the contract ensurer is an insurer. I have never seen a case in which the insure/ensure/assure issue made a difference.

<<I have never seen a case in which the insure/ensure/assure issue made a difference.>>

Except in case of lowly wordprocessor in face of lawyers' dire ire.

Thank you all for your help!

So would it be safe to say that "insure" is for money and "assure" is for people, but that the difference isn't that important?

CK: Pendant!

I'll come and hang round your neck any time, CK.

Bingley

I'll come and hang round your neck any time, CK.

Bingley

Awww, shucks, Bingley!