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USAA

GroundPounder

Well-Known Member
Nota bene…when you break down in the middle of a major city or in the middle of Idaho your 3rd Party Sub-Contracted tow service, be it USAA or AAA, or GEICO is simply going to suck. I can honestly say that one company is no better than the others and I have tried them all. The real lesson here..if you want to be happy break down within one mile of the appropriate dealership.

The key is to find out who USAA / AAA are sending, and then call them directly. It ensures that they have really been notified, and that they know you are out there waiting.

We used to always make contact to get our guys back in service quicker and the road cleared as quickly as possible.
 

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
Looking for a November 2024 pulse check on USAA.

What is the prevailing opinion on rates? Both homeowners and Auto and are they still competitive in pricing and service?

What alternatives are you all considering or actually moving to if you are not happy?

Thank you!
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
Looking for a November 2024 pulse check on USAA.

What is the prevailing opinion on rates? Both homeowners and Auto and are they still competitive in pricing and service?

What alternatives are you all considering or actually moving to if you are not happy?

Thank you!
My personal feeling is that they are still too high. They insure a whole lot of veterans who appear to love living in hurricane prone areas and that keeps rates high. I will say that if something goes wrong, they are great and always quick to respond but they charge too much for my coverage needs. I still bank with them.
 

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
My rates for both homeowners and Auto are up 30% over the last 24 months with no accident or claim history. I am absolutely baffled.

Also, the famed subscriber savings account rebate that was typically $400 a year is now under $150.

It is time to go shopping.
 

Mos

Well-Known Member
None
I'm still with them but seriously considering taking my business somewhere else. Customer service is decent but the premium is ridiculous.
 

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
I'm still with them but seriously considering taking my business somewhere else. Customer service is decent but the premium is ridiculous.
Yeah, I've been on autopilot with them for probably 20 yrs. Would be interested to hear about alternatives, and why.
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
I went with Flo and the gang. My insurance costs dropped by close to 65%. I haven’t had the need to use them, but their service has all the bells and whistles.
 

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
My rates for both homeowners and Auto are up 30% over the last 24 months with no accident or claim history. I am absolutely baffled.

Also, the famed subscriber savings account rebate that was typically $400 a year is now under $150.

It is time to go shopping.

I need to look at this again. I have valuable property and cars insured through USAA, but there may be a better option in 2024's market.
 

lowflier03

So no $hit there I was
pilot
After over 20 years with USAA I recently went with an insurance broker for both auto and homeowner's insurance. Saving a significant amount of money each month, and the service has actually been much better than USAA.

Despite the constantly increasing premiums, it was my last PCS that convinced me to switch. I specifically purchased their recommended renter's insurance to cover our household goods in transit. Their agent told us we would be covered. When it came time to make a minor claim, we basically got told we were out of luck. Several other senior officers I know have had a similar experience. They convince you to buy a product, then when you need to use it, you find out that under no circumstances would their product cover you. This was a big change from my experience 6 years ago when we had to make a claim.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Still sticking with USAA for the foreseeable future, the old parable about getting what you pay for always comes to mind. I've had two semi-significant claims with them on my homeowners and both times they were excellent to deal with and what they 'fixed', with just a few hiccups that had no impact in the end. That is in contrast to many of my neighbors who have had very varied experiences with all the major insurance companies with few coming close to how well things worked out for us.

While the costs have risen a bit they haven't been out of line with what I expected with getting newer cars and general inflation, though we do live in a lower risk area for natural disaster risk. I am curious with how much folks' rates will rise after a while with their new insurance companies. One thing I do wish is that USAA would dial back on their advertising, they really don't need to waste that much.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Having worked for and still have many friends in the insurance industry, and knowing a few people that own repair shops I can say there are not "great" insurance companies, it is about who isn't the worst or a pain to deal with when you have a claim.

I have heard from those on the repair and consumer side there are less issues with State Farm and Allstate.

On the repair side.

Farmers is awful with communication with repair shops waiting several working days to get additional authorization when extra damage is found. Their admin isn't great either sending checks to repair shops with wrong names, or to the wrong address.

GEICO pushes hard for using used parts to save money, while others will desire that they often go with what the repair shop says much easier than others.

On the consumer side.

Progressive: If you are insured with them can be difficult, multiple instances of them trying to find fault with their own insured to reduce what they need to pay out, The best I heard 2 weeks ago was a guy I knows wife was t-boned by a guy that ran a stop sign and tried to assign the wife 50% liable because she was speeding, but there was not statements or evidence she was speeding and it shouldn't have made difference, they fought and the other was assigned 100% liability (both drivers had progressive). On the good side my wife was hit by a woman insured by Progressive and from my standpoint it was the easiest time dealing with an insurance company I ever had.

Farmers: They are just slow and difficult to communicate with.

Geico: Likes to use refurbished parts to save money, so ask the repair shop if they are using OEM parts.

USAA: Multiple instances of being difficult to work with in regards to homeowner claims from those I know such as denying roof damage from hail storm while neighbors claims accepted, and slow to give the OK for water damage. The biggest complaint was the high premium cost when people shopped around.

All insurance companies are taking rate hikes and what company may be good to have rate wise in Virginia may not be good to have in Kansas which is why on the rate side it is good to shop around. The last I heard only 1 insurance company wasn't taking losses and that was Progressive, but they also took pretty good rate hikes a few years ago to fix their loss rate. There are many reasons rates are going up overall from those I know that have been in briefs with their companies which includes cost of labor, cost of repair parts, building supplies and the number of uninsured motorist. The officers I know in WA have said about 1/3 of the drivers they encounter for an accident report don't have insurance. EV's are also not great for insurance companies due to repair cost.

Some insurance companies will offer lower rates for those who switch to them, then they will increase rates to be in line with those they already insure.

Just yesterday I was messaging a friend who left her job in insurance last month and I asked how it was going when she left, her response was "it's a mess".
 

lowflier03

So no $hit there I was
pilot
All insurance companies are taking rate hikes and what company may be good to have rate wise in Virginia may not be good to have in Kansas which is why on the rate side it is good to shop around. The last I heard only 1 insurance company wasn't taking losses and that was Progressive, but they also took pretty good rate hikes a few years ago to fix their loss rate. There are many reasons rates are going up overall from those I know that have been in briefs with their companies which includes cost of labor, cost of repair parts, building supplies and the number of uninsured motorist. The officers I know in WA have said about 1/3 of the drivers they encounter for an accident report don't have insurance. EV's are also not great for insurance companies due to repair cost.
I feel like it might be important for everyone to understand how Insurance companies make money. These "losses" don't mean the insurance companies are actually losing money. It's a bit of corporate doublespeak as an excuse to charge you more money or drop risky areas to further increase already astronomical profits.

When insurance companies say they "lose money" they mean they "Paid out" more in claims then they "took in on revenues" through premiums but this does not account for income from investments (aka "the float") so it does not mean that they actually lost money.

As an example from the first link below, using State Farm over the course of 2 years, their net worth went from $126.1bn to $131.2bn. Yes, they lost some money on claims vs premiums, but they still gained $5bn net value over that time.

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/...record-loss-of-billions-in-auto-underwriting/

https://www.gaapdynamics.com/insigh... the timing between,as “investing the float.”
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
Looking for a November 2024 pulse check on USAA.

What is the prevailing opinion on rates? Both homeowners and Auto and are they still competitive in pricing and service?

What alternatives are you all considering or actually moving to if you are not happy?

Thank you!
My homeowners and valuable property rates are pretty good but my car insurance rates have been steadily increasing over the last few years. Unfortunately, GEICO and others aren't much better so I've stuck with USAA for my insurance.

That said, I've dropped all other USAA services. They simply aren't competitive anymore and their level of customer service is nowhere near as good as it used to be. I'm really just waiting for one denied claim or one bad experience before I jump ship completely at this point.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Yeah, I've been on autopilot with them for probably 20 yrs. Would be interested to hear about alternatives, and why.
Same… never had issues, but have heard the negative buzz over the last few years. I don’t have a homeowners policy with them now, so can’t speak to rates, but my renters and auto seem fine, though I haven’t bothered to compare with alternatives. I bank with them, so having everything consolidated like that is nice. Any savings would have to be significant for me to go through the hassle of changing that up.
 
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