USAA prides itself on affordable car insurance. The company was founded in 1922 by a group of army officers. The officers insured each other’s vehicles to keep from entering debt in the event of an accident. With a unique story to back its claim, USAA prides itself on affordable, family-oriented car insurance.
Only military personnel are eligible for USAA car insurance. This includes active, retired, and generally military-associated customers. Military family members are included in the coverage.
Different Types of Coverage at USAA
USAA’s range of coverage is different with some unique discounts. Their website lacks transparency, but it gives a decent amount of information to start asking questions. The company bases their discounts on a few things, including safe driving, good grades, and a family discount.
The next generation in a family saves 10% if they continue working with USAA. Their long-term rates beat 75% of the competition. Young drivers may opt-in to a defensive driving course to avoid sky-high premiums.
Five years of clean driving make customers eligible for USAA’s accident forgiveness. The insurance company forgives one accident per policy. Customers in an unforgivable accident should expect their premiums to raise between 30% and 50% over the next three years.
Liability Coverage
USAA combines bodily injury and property damage. Minimum liability with USAA might be a way for customers to save the most money. This is especially true if they choose to opt-out of comprehensive or collision coverage.
USAA does not offer different premiums per vehicle. All household vehicles must equal the same amount on one policy. Purchasing maximum liability coverage insures all vehicles in the house to the maximum. This gets expensive with a larger family, so keep this in mind before opting into multiple types of coverage.
Extended Benefits Coverage
USAA extends their benefits beyond the minimum received from liability. This includes medical coverage, essential services, and lost wages. The extended benefits coverage fully insures the customer’s bodily assets in the event of an expensive accident.
The extended benefits coverage must be paired with personal injury protection. USAA’s personal injury protection extends beyond the national average. They cover drivers and passengers and are responsible for all charges associated with personal injury.
Funeral expenses are a unique type of coverage from USAA. If the driver loses their job or becomes unable to work, USAA pays for lost wages up to one year. They also pay for childcare expenses ($750 maximum) and loss of services on a daily basis for up to one year.
J.D. Power Review
J.D. Power gives USAA an overall satisfaction rating of 5 stars. They are highly ranked in most areas based on their auto insurance coverage. Customers are highly satisfied with their prices and policy offerings. Their claims and billing process is outstanding.
USAA’s transparency and commitment to customers serve them well. They seem to promote a loyal, family-oriented customer relationship, and it works well for them.
Despite receiving a nearly perfect score with J.D. Power, USAA’s specific coverage makes them ineligible for an official rank. By modeling their company towards military members and their families, they are able to focus on high-quality customer service experience.
A.M. Best Review
USAA displays its prowess as an insurance company through A.M. Best. The review company considers USAA to be financially stable, giving the company the best score on the board.
The only detrimental impact to USAA’s perfect score is disaster-related mass accidents. The theory is that USAA gets very swamped with claims around tornado or hurricane season or other natural disasters. Mass disasters bring their ratings down by a few points every year, only to boost back up once the disaster passes.
Solid financial strength factors into USAA’s ability to stay afloat during drops in ratings. Their ability to keep customer service strong keeps customers loyal. A few dings in their overall average is not enough to keep the company down.
Clearsurance Customer Reviews
Customer reviews for USAA continue the trend of near perfection. Around 97% of customers would renew their policy, and 94% of customers would recommend USAA to a friend. Less than 6% of the reviews are average to below average.
Many customers are happy with their rates staying the same after an accident. A lot of customers do not mind the higher rates for good customer service. Eliminating the hassle of filing a claim boosts USAA’s ratings significantly.
Summary of Pros
- Absolutely excellent customer service
- Smaller workload for USAA means more attention towards customers
- Customer loyalty discounts, student discounts, and safe driver discounts
- Transparent pricing and coverage
Summary of Cons
- Offers insurance only to military personnel and their family
- Higher rates
- Necessitates lots of add-on for their coverage