USAA past and present?

[The_Eric]

After seeing some threads here on the forum stating how good and cheap their coverage is, I encouraged my better half to look into them since she is ex-military. She took to the web in search of reviews only to find nearly all of them are negative. I asked her what the dates were and she told me that pretty much all of them were recent. Another website showed lots of good reviews, but they were older.

I wonder if there was a re-structure of USAA's ownership/leadership leading to poorer claims assistance and higher rates. I know another forum member has had some recent problems with them too, though not as a customer.

Do any of you out there know much of what's going on with USAA, or have recent dealings with them? Is this a "zone" specific issue maybe?

 

[jimbrewer]

Very minor claim last year. No problems. No problems in past years either. They went through a stage where they bombarded me with junk mail, but that stopped. I don't know if they are the cheapest, but I am fairly certain they are competitive anyway, and as I said, I've never had any but fair treatment at their hands.

 

[WANG]

I have no complaints about USAA, and I've been with them for about 14 years. People always vocalize complaints more than compliments.

 

[RamFan]

I couldn't be happier with USAA for insurance. For banking though I stick with Navy Federal.

 

[javacontour]

USAA seems to be on an expansion. TV ads, opened up enrollment to enlisted. I wonder if they are giving up some of the service they are known for for the sake of the growth?

I am coming up on 30 years membership. I joined as a cadet in the 1980s.

 

[Spazdog]

If USAA had covered my ZX600 Ninja and GSX-R750, I would be at 30 years this March.

I've been with the other insurance companies to cover my bikes. I will not go back to them for anything that USAA will cover.

 

[edwardh1]

they are not as good as they were.
Also Not as cost competitive.
their home insurance companies would not insure me for what my (plain, normal) house was worth (in my opinion) based on my comparison with my town zoning office/building permit data and my discussions with local people who had had fire loss on homes like mine.
That said I think they are very ethical and would not "cheat" you which I dont think I can say for other companies.
The amount spend on TV ads for car insurance has to be amazing by some other companies. .
Compare.

 

[FowVay]

Their rates weren't comparable to what State Farm charges me for all of my coverages.

 

[DoiInthanon]

Originally Posted By: RamFan
I couldn't be happier with USAA for insurance. For banking though I stick with Navy Federal.
Same here. Consumer Reports evaluated insurance companies. Worth looking up.

 

[Hokiefyd]

My folks have been with USAA "forever", and my wife and I have had their products for 15 years now. We have insurance with them, have had loans with them, investments, IRAs, checking/savings accounts, etc. They offer complete online banking solutions including deposit from mobile phones. They are also building financial centers in key markets (Fayetteville, NC, has two of them). They're not full-service banks, but they have agents there for guidance.

I had an accident claim with them last year. Not at fault, but the at-fault driver also had USAA. Process went fine. My dad rolled their '06 TJ off-road a few years ago; USAA fixed no questions asked.

We had a storm through the area a few Easters ago (tornados) and USAA gave us a new roof. We had to fight for none of it. They replaced our roof and actually VOLUNTEERED to replace the shingle roof on our shed so it would match the new house roof, even though the shed's roof was much newer and had little damage. They also replaced all of our rain gutters at the same time, because the aluminum had "hail damage". Seemed functional to me, but sure!

We've been 100% satisfied with them. I have zero desire to shop other companies, regardless of rates. I've never dealt with a company that is so easy to communicate with, on the phone or internet. All call center agents are actually American, and you can understand them.

100% satisfied with USAA.

 

[SnPb]

I have used USAA for auto insurance since I started driving in the 70's and have had no regrets. I only have one experience with them regarding a claim, from about 10 years ago when another driver rear ended me. I called USAA and they took care of everything. I never had to contact the other driver or her insurance company. USAA did request that I take my truck to their designated body shop for an appraisal, but said to take it wherever I wanted to have the work performed. I also received a rental car to use during the time that my truck was in the shop.
One thing to be aware of when comparison shopping based on price is that USAA normally provides a rebate of sorts every year. The company is member owned and apparently they return some of the funds remaining after expenses to the members. I just received a check for this purpose a few weeks ago.
I haven't had a motorcycle for some time now, but when I did it was insured with USAA as well.

 

[The_Eric]

Thank you for taking the time to reply!

I will pass this on the better half and let her take it from there.

 

[tom slick]

After 18 years of auto policies Allstate and all of their "discounts", USAA was able to provide more coverage for the same price. They are $300 a year cheaper for home insurance with more coverage than the previous company.

 

[kb01]

I've only heard good things about USAA.

If they weren't so dead set against insuring older homes, I'd still have a policy through them.

 

[Schmoe]

I was with them for car insurance for over 18 years. At that time, they HAD the best coverage and best rates. As time went on, they started going up and up and up....yes, I know just about every insurer rates went up over the past 10 years, but come on....same car, same coverage...except car was a year older, they continued to raise my rates? Also, I've had no tickets and maybe one claim within that time frame and not my fault so you can't say the changes were a direct response to my driving habits. Switched to State Farm and got a MUCH better deal and better coverage. When I dropped USAA, they didn't even flinch or ask me why I was leaving them. Now, I still have them for my boat insurance, great rates/coverages with that and I still use their mastercard and have a savings account with them. Love those services, but auto insurance was just too much. Their homeowners insurance was way out in outer space as far as rates/coverages go. Maybe living in tornado alley had something to do with that.

 

[stranger706]

I used their banking and loan services for a year or two back in 05-06. It was ok until I had to deal with their customer service people. I had a small problem that came up and they handled it terribly. It left a very bad taste in our mouths, so we switched to BOA and haven't looked back.

Some of my coworkers have had dealings with their insurance practices and all I hear from that is A+++.