Any insurance beating USAA?

bagel · Post by **bagel** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 6:57 pm

Including rates, reliability/response to claims, overall service.

Silk McCue · Post by **Silk McCue** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 7:13 pm

Amica.

Cheers

sometimesinvestor · Post by **sometimesinvestor** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 7:51 pm

Most people who have USAA are generally pleased as are most people with Amica

gtd98765 · Post by **gtd98765** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:39 pm

search on USAA and you will find several threads. my view is USAA is resting on its laurels but service has drastically declined in recent years.

randomguy · Post by **randomguy** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:40 pm

gtd98765 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:39 pm search on USAA and you will find several threads. my view is USAA is resting on its laurels but service has drastically declined in recent years.

The decline level though still seems to be higher than most:). If you just shop on price it is somewhat easy to beat USAA in my experience. But you tend to deal with the next tier down in company in terms of service. If that is worth it is up to you.

wootwoot · Post by **wootwoot** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:42 pm

USAA still rocks!

ERguy101 · Post by **ERguy101** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:55 pm

Geico for sure. Half the rate of USAA for me. Amazing service. Great website. I think USAA is just getting beat in every department now. I was 100% USAA, now I don't even have an account anymore.

Also, check out: https://www.gabi.com

It can shop your car insurance around.

nix4me · Post by **nix4me** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:38 pm

USAA is terrible in Florida. Every company beats USAA in Florida.

bagel · Post by **bagel** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:42 pm

yes, I've definitely noted a decline in service, been there over 25 yrs. Don't have any loans or money there, just car, umbrella, home, other insurance. Checked into a mortgage but got a lot of voice mail when I called and an email once a day that seemed very generated.

WestUniversity · Post by **WestUniversity** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:51 pm

USAA might be great for their own customers but in the case of a family member whose car was totaled by one of their customers, in an accident that was the fault of their customer, they were a PITB to deal with. That experience did nothing to endear me to them...

sperry8 · Post by **sperry8** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:53 pm

nix4me wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:38 pm USAA is terrible in Florida. Every company beats USAA in Florida.

USAA was/is overpriced in Florida. However they were the best price by far when I used to live in California. Service was awesome as well. So if they are competitive I prefer them. But here in FL GEICO is 1/2 the price so I moved over.

Freetime76 · Post by **Freetime76** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:56 pm

My husband always used USAA, citing that he’d seen them go above and beyond for an insurance claim. (His family is all military, mine is civilian, so I had no experience with it). I used Sate Farm, Allstate or similar, mostly based on rates.

After researching and finding complaints on USAA, we opted to use a “regular” insurance company, and also because I always had trouble getting through to do anything with it. We picked Allstate, about 10 years ago.

A few years back, we spent time with his family on a trip, and USAA was revisited as an option. I caved, he called them, and USAA’s rate for our homeowners insurance was OVER $1000 higher. Auto was $100s higher, too, but I don’t remember by how much. Same coverage, no claims. I wish we could get my FIL to switch, but he was 43 yrs active duty Marine. No way will he ever drop USAA

... and maybe he gets a better rate!

sunny_socal · Post by **sunny_socal** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:58 am

IMO USAA is the most expensive insurance. We had it for years since FIL was in the military and DW was convinced "USAA is the best, we'll never switch."

But when we moved from CA to TX our insurance through USAA doubled! Homeowners would have been about 2k/year. Auto insurance was just as bad, about double what it used to be. Switched to Allstate and now we're back at our usual rates (note: TX insurance tends to be higher across the board due to severe weather, ie. hail, tornadoes and hurricanes)

jwfails · Post by **jwfails** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 7:04 am

I was with USAA for over 25 years, I just switched to Esurance. I don’t know how good the service is yet. I hope to not have to find out. USAA has declined in the last 10 years. They have subbed out all of there services.

BL · Post by BL » Thu Jun 27, 2019 7:27 am

Freetime76 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:56 pm My husband always used USAA, citing that he’d seen them go above and beyond for an insurance claim. (His family is all military, mine is civilian, so I had no experience with it). I used Sate Farm, Allstate or similar, mostly based on rates.

After researching and finding complaints on USAA, we opted to use a “regular” insurance company, and also because I always had trouble getting through to do anything with it. We picked Allstate, about 10 years ago.

A few years back, we spent time with his family on a trip, and USAA was revisited as an option. I caved, he called them, and USAA’s rate for our homeowners insurance was OVER $1000 higher. Auto was $100s higher, too, but I don’t remember by how much. Same coverage, no claims. I wish we could get my FIL to switch, but he was 43 yrs active duty Marine. No way will he ever drop USAA ... and maybe he gets a better rate!

Yes, he may. He may also get a check from Subscriber Savings Account (sort of like the Capital Credits in a rural co-op electric, telephone, elevator, etc.) as well as a check for being a long-time member. I know we got two checks this past year. We have auto insurance only there.

Freetime76 · Post by **Freetime76** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:13 am

sunny_socal wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:58 am IMO USAA is the most expensive insurance. We had it for years since FIL was in the military and DW was convinced "USAA is the best, we'll never switch."

But when we moved from CA to TX our insurance through USAA doubled! Homeowners would have been about 2k/year. Auto insurance was just as bad, about double what it used to be. Switched to Allstate and now we're back at our usual rates (note: TX insurance tends to be higher across the board due to severe weather, ie. hail, tornadoes and hurricanes)

+1, but substitute DH for DW. USAA has a very good marketing program for military

travelogue · Post by **travelogue** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:26 am

GEICO has been a good option for us.

tea_pirate · Post by **tea_pirate** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 11:38 am

USAA is sending Safelite out tomorrow for my 4th windshield replacement in as many years. I've used the chip repair service 2 or 3 times as well. Gotta love the state of disrepair of MA highways. Glass is required to be zero deductible here, but I've heard of other companies raising rates following a couple glass claims. USAA hasn't budged my rates.

I've also had 3 total collision claims in the last decade (one my fault, one their fault, one comprehensive for flying debris) and USAA has just been so easy to work with every time. 15-20 minutes on the phone and everything is sorted.

I checked last year and GEICO was $3/month cheaper than USAA. Not worth it given my experiences with USAA versus the negative stories I have heard about other insurance companies. I drive 30k+ miles per year on heavily traveled interstates so using insurance is a when thing for me, not if.

daektr · Post by **daektr** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 11:43 am

We also switched from USAA to Amica a couple of years ago.

MDfan · Post by **MDfan** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 11:58 am

bagel wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 6:57 pm Including rates, reliability/response to claims, overall service.

I have Geico and it was significantly cheaper than the quote I got from USAA. When I say "significantly," I'm talking in the thousands of dollars (we have 5 drivers, 2 under age 25).

randomguy · Post by **randomguy** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:50 pm

travelogue wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:26 am GEICO has been a good option for us.

GEICO was just over 20% more for me last time I checked. The only way to quantify the rate differences is to get quotes.

DIFAR31 · Post by **DIFAR31** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:55 pm

Because USAA rates are based in part on the level of USAA membership, it's difficult to make meaningful cost comparisons with other policy holders without knowing this important piece of information.

flyphotoguy · Post by **flyphotoguy** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:02 pm

I heard from those with USAA that they're happy with it and don't plan to change/move. I can't get it but I just recently moved from esurance to GEICO because of a few hundred dollars of savings per year.

StrawMan · Post by **StrawMan** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:34 pm

Military retiree, been with USAA for almost 20 years. Nobody can beat them (for me) on insurance rates.

USAA has always bent over backwards to help, and I've had some weird issues in the past.

Socrates · Post by **Socrates** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:44 pm

Hard to beat USAA in pricing or customer service.

Just added my new wife to the USAA policy for auto. She switched from All State and was paying over $900 for 6 months and the new policy with USAA is $382 for 6 months. Also this is with slightly higher liability limits ($250,000 to $300,000).

Most importantly, their customer service is outstanding and the few claims I have had with them, have totally been covered and quickly resolved.

dpm321 · Post by **dpm321** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:25 pm

I spent 24 years in the Air Force and tried to go with USAA every year. Everybody I knew said they got the best rates there. For us Liberty Mutual has always beat USAA in price and the service, including defense in a lawsuit, has been excellent.

Golf maniac · Post by **Golf maniac** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:12 pm

USAA member for over 30 years, I have recently relocated to Florida and had my home and auto quoted by multiple companies and USAA was within $50 of all other quotes. They even agreed to provide sinkhole insurance. My customer service with USAA has always been outstanding so right now I will not change for a few bucks. But I check rates about once per year before my home insurance renews, any major differences then I will decide. I do think there are a lot of factors that set the rate, thats why so many different stories here.

Big Dog · Post by **Big Dog** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:30 pm

Because USAA rates are based in part on the level of USAA membership, it's difficult to make meaningful cost comparisons with other policy holders without knowing this important piece of information.

Exactly. For example, officers (and former officers) are in one class. Adult dependents of officers/former officers are in another class. All can be rated differently. From what I gather, the O pay grades have the best rates.

BobStrauss · Post by **BobStrauss** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:47 pm

For our family, GEICO has been far cheaper than USAA - and great when we’ve needed to make claims as well.

Radman · Post by **Radman** » Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:03 pm

We used USAA for about 6 years. Car insurance rates were great. Condo insurance rates were good. Had one claim that was handled smoothly.

We moved 3 years ago from Georgia to Iowa and we bought a house, USAA home insurance rate was very expensive. Car insurance rates were still good.

Got a quote from Amica, homeowners insurance was almost half what USAA wanted. Car insurance was a little more expensive. Bundled I think we saved like 800 a year with Amica. Have not had a claim so I cannot comment on their service.

chevca · Post by **chevca** » Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:54 am

WestUniversity wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:51 pm USAA might be great for their own customers but in the case of a family member whose car was totaled by one of their customers, in an accident that was the fault of their customer, they were a PITB to deal with. That experience did nothing to endear me to them...

Nope. We're USAA customers going through the opposite now where the other driver was at fault and our truck got totaled. USAA has done NOTHING for us! They have been pretty much worthless. We will most likely be switching insurance companies after this ordeal is over.

I have been with them for almost 20 years and this has been very disappointing. The other driver was at fault, we don't have coverage for this or that... they're still our insurance company and should represent us and fight our fight, right? At least that's how I thought it was supposed to work.

WestUniversity · Post by **WestUniversity** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:08 am

chevca wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:54 am
WestUniversity wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:51 pm USAA might be great for their own customers but in the case of a family member whose car was totaled by one of their customers, in an accident that was the fault of their customer, they were a PITB to deal with. That experience did nothing to endear me to them...
Nope. We're USAA customers going through the opposite now where the other driver was at fault and our truck got totaled. USAA has done NOTHING for us! They have been pretty much worthless. We will most likely be switching insurance companies after this ordeal is over.

I have been with them for almost 20 years and this has been very disappointing. The other driver was at fault, we don't have coverage for this or that... they're still our insurance company and should represent us and fight our fight, right? At least that's how I thought it was supposed to work.

FWIW we have been with State Farm for years and have never had a problem. YMMV

Naismith · Post by **Naismith** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:33 am

Big Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:30 pm
Because USAA rates are based in part on the level of USAA membership, it's difficult to make meaningful cost comparisons with other policy holders without knowing this important piece of information.
Exactly. For example, officers (and former officers) are in one class. Adult dependents of officers/former officers are in another class. All can be rated differently. From what I gather, the O pay grades have the best rates.

So officer's dependents (who never put their own lives on the line!) get more favorable coverage than those who served as enlisted?

I should not be surprised; typical of how we grunts were treated during service, but dismaying nonetheless.

Freetime76 · Post by **Freetime76** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:42 am

Naismith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:33 am
Big Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:30 pm
Because USAA rates are based in part on the level of USAA membership, it's difficult to make meaningful cost comparisons with other policy holders without knowing this important piece of information.
Exactly. For example, officers (and former officers) are in one class. Adult dependents of officers/former officers are in another class. All can be rated differently. From what I gather, the O pay grades have the best rates.
So officer's dependents (who never put their own lives on the line!) get more favorable coverage than those who served as enlisted?

I should not be surprised; typical of how we grunts were treated during service, but dismaying nonetheless.

Not sure of USAA’s pricing system. If it makes you feel any better, my our policy was for an adult son of an officer. Our rates were very high vs other companies.. Dad - the officer - we think gets great rates, at least he will never switch. Also wonder if they route to the same customer service queue or not.

atdharris · Post by **atdharris** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:43 am

I am still trying to decide whether to leave them or not. Over the years, my rates for auto insurance have continued to increase. I recently quoted Geico for $108/month whereas I pay about $187/month for USAA for the same coverage. I am told by PI attorney friends that USAA is the best insurer they face and they fight hard for their clients, and Geico is one of the worst, but the $80/month savings would be nice. I've never filed a claim with my insurer, but I know there is always that one time.

xb7 · Post by **xb7** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 10:23 am

Big Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:30 pm
Because USAA rates are based in part on the level of USAA membership, it's difficult to make meaningful cost comparisons with other policy holders without knowing this important piece of information.
Exactly. For example, officers (and former officers) are in one class. Adult dependents of officers/former officers are in another class. All can be rated differently. From what I gather, the O pay grades have the best rates.

Interesting --- and helpful. I'd read this and another thread here and was starting to think I might shop around, but I'm a "former officer", started with USAA in the 1970's in ROTC, so maybe I'll just stay ignorant and happy.

Thanks.

GlennK · Post by **GlennK** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:10 am

Erie Insurance. I am not sure they are nationwide.

Every time I spend the hour calling around for comparisons, they are the lowest cost. And their service is fantastic. I had a mini-van burn up on me on vacation 800 miles from home and they took care of me. Allowed me to rent an small SUV to drive home (after a sedan rental for the remainder of the week), AND shipped what would not fit in the SUV via UPS. It would take a tremendous price cut for me to leave them (although I still check once a year).

Big Dog · Post by **Big Dog** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 12:56 pm

So officer's dependents (who never put their own lives on the line!) get more favorable coverage than those who served as enlisted?

I should not be surprised; typical of how we grunts were treated during service, but dismaying nonetheless.

Sry, but not what I intended which was only that the Officer (and former officers) are in the best class rate. I have no idea how adult Dependents of Officers are rated relative to Enlisted members and their dependents.

THY4373 · Post by **THY4373** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 1:37 pm

Naismith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:33 am
Big Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:30 pm
Because USAA rates are based in part on the level of USAA membership, it's difficult to make meaningful cost comparisons with other policy holders without knowing this important piece of information.
Exactly. For example, officers (and former officers) are in one class. Adult dependents of officers/former officers are in another class. All can be rated differently. From what I gather, the O pay grades have the best rates.
So officer's dependents (who never put their own lives on the line!) get more favorable coverage than those who served as enlisted?

I should not be surprised; typical of how we grunts were treated during service, but dismaying nonetheless.

From what I understand yes. Officers get full membership. Next level down is USAA CIC this is first generation officer dependents maybe others I don't know. Next level down is USAA Garrison this I believe is where enlisted usually fall as well as later generations of officer dependents after first at least. There are other levels below this but I forget them. Also levels may be the wrong way of phrasing this. Each are separate sometimes subsidiary insurance companies with different rates (something not unique to USAA) and the further you are from an officer the more you are likely to pay but not always I am CIC and when I got divorced my spouse who qualified through me was dropped from CIC to Garrison and though she had same house and car her rates went up 30% with change and she is with Amica now. So for my ex going from the first gen officer dependent subsidiary to the enlisted later gen subsidiary did result in a large increase in cost.

Also one other thing folks forget is USAA started out as officer focused not military focused. All federal officers military, foreign service, national health and law enforcement were the focus. Enlisted military did not qualify for USAA for most of it's existence. It is really only only in the last two decades they went from officer focused to military focused. My father was an FSO which is how I qualify.

9liner · Post by **9liner** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 1:48 pm

USAA banking member. USAA insurance has not been able to come close to my current homeowner's and auto insurance providers; Philadelphia Contributionship and Geico, respectively. I shop every 6 months for auto and annually for homeowner's.

Edit: Not quite sure about membership tiers that others have mentioned previously. I'm an officer so, theoretically, would fall in that tier.

supersharpie · Post by **supersharpie** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 1:53 pm

What tools do you guys use to shop for insurance? I have been insured by State Farm for close to 20 years and get the sneaking suspicion that I have overpaid hundreds of dollars in inflated premiums, if not more, each of those years. However, I have been lazy and never really bothered to shop around.

AJS · Post by **AJS** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:12 pm

Do yourself a favor and pass on USAA. Expensive and customer service is marginal.

AJS · Post by **AJS** » Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:14 pm

GlennK wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:10 am Erie Insurance. I am not sure they are nationwide.

Every time I spend the hour calling around for comparisons, they are the lowest cost. And their service is fantastic. I had a mini-van burn up on me on vacation 800 miles from home and they took care of me. Allowed me to rent an small SUV to drive home (after a sedan rental for the remainder of the week), AND shipped what would not fit in the SUV via UPS. It would take a tremendous price cut for me to leave them (although I still check once a year).

Loved Erie Insurance. But I now live in a state where Erie isn't offered so I made a bad choice - USAA.