USAA provides standard coverages, such as liability, comprehensive and collision insurance, that you would expect from an auto insurer or that might be required in your state. In terms of additional coverage options, USAA has a wide variety of insurance offerings but does not offer anything that you wouldn’t likely be able to find with a similar national insurer.
Car Replacement Assistance coverage: This is essentially what other insurers might call “new car replacement coverage.” Car Replacement Assistance (CRA) pays 20% — in addition to the actual cash value of the vehicle — if your car is totaled. This coverage is not available for leased cars. CRA is only available to vehicles with both comprehensive and collision coverage, and signing up for CRA could increase your premiums by 5%.
Accident Forgiveness: With Accident Forgiveness, USAA auto insurance customers will not see their rates go up after one at-fault accident. Similar to Geico’s accident forgiveness program, this coverage can either be earned or purchased. Qualifying drivers who have no at-fault accidents for five years while being insured with USAA will automatically receive this benefit. Purchasing this coverage could cost drivers an additional 4% in their auto insurance premiums, judging from the quotes we gathered.
Rental Reimbursement: In the event of a covered loss where your vehicle is in need of repair, USAA will pay for a rental vehicle. Unlike other insurers — which let you select a daily limit as well as a limit per claim — USAA lets customers select a type of vehicle: Economy, Standard, Multipassenger-Truck or Large SUV. The specific coverage limits for Rental Reimbursement will be spelled out in your insurance policy. According to the quotes we gathered, adding this coverage with an economy rental costs around $60 more per year.
Towing and Labor: If you are in need of roadside assistance, having this coverage will pay for the cost of towing to the nearest repair shop, the cost of gas delivery, a tire change and any labor performed where your car broke down. USAA will specify coverage limits on your individual policy. We found this coverage to cost an additional $18 on yearly auto insurance premiums for each driver profile we examined.
Rideshare Gap Protection: This coverage protects rideshare drivers during the times where they may not be covered by their personal auto insurance policy or the coverage provided by their rideshare service — such as Uber or Lyft.
Glass coverage
Customers looking for full glass coverage — so they won’t have to pay out of pocket for windshield or window repairs — might be disappointed with USAA’s offerings. Unlike many other insurers, full glass coverage is only automatically included by USAA with comprehensive coverage only in Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts and South Carolina. However, USAA customers may have the option to choose full glass coverage — for an additional charge — if they live Arizona, Connecticut, Minnesota or New York.
Gap insurance
Gap insurance is designed for drivers who finance or lease their vehicles, and it covers the difference between what drivers owe and what their cars are worth in the event of a total loss. USAA does not offer gap insurance for leased vehicles, though it does provide similar products for purchased vehicles.
Drivers who get a car loan through USAA have the option to purchase Total Loss Protection, which functions similarly to gap insurance. This will cover the gap between what you owe and your car’s actual cash value (ACV) up to $50,000, including $1,000 of your deductible.
Car Replacement Assistance (CRA) — which can cover the same costs as gap insurance — is available if you have either bought a car outright or have an auto loan through USAA or another lender. The main difference between gap insurance and CRA is that CRA will pay 20% more than the ACV of your car, whether this exceeds or is less than the amount you owe on a vehicle. For example, if you totaled your car and owed more than 20% over the ACV of your car, you would be left paying out of pocket for the remaining balance of your loan. While gap insurance is also limited on how much it will cover, in most cases the limit will be greater than 20% of your car’s ACV. On the other hand, if your car isn’t financed, CRA can play a valuable role in helping you to purchase a new vehicle in the case your car is totaled, not just pay off a loan as gap insurance does.
Keep in mind that, since CRA and Total Loss Protection provide a similar service to gap insurance, those with car loans will not see any added value with separate gap coverage. For example, if you totaled your car and the amount of your loan was 20% greater than the ACV of your vehicle, then all of the CRA funds will be used to pay off the loan and your gap insurance would be unused.
USAA auto insurance discounts
In terms of discounts, USAA’s offerings are, overall, pretty similar to what might be available to you with other insurers. Discounts that USAA provides include multipolicy discounts, multivehicle discounts, as well as discounts for vehicle equipment — such as anti-theft devices and daytime running lights. The discounts available can change based on your driving history and location.
| Discount | Details |
|---|---|
| Military Installation | If you garage your vehicle on a military base, you can receive a discount on the comprehensive coverage portion of your premium of up to 15%. |
| Annual Mileage | USAA will give you a discounted rate based on the number of miles that you drive in a year. This discount is only available to drivers over the age of 29. |
| USAA’s Discount for Driving Research | Qualifying drivers can sign up and receive devices that they plug into ports on their cars. From there, all they have to do is drive normally — and help USAA with driving research. USAA will gather the information through the devices and send periodic email surveys. Enrolling in this program gives drivers a 5% auto insurance discount. |
| Premier Driver Discount | Having a good driving record for over five years qualifies you for this discount. Additionally, you also qualify for accident forgiveness, which was mentioned previously. |
| Defensive Driving Course | Taking an approved defensive driving course can save you on your USAA auto insurance premiums. |
| Driver Training Course | Completing a drivers education course — before turning 21 — can earn drivers a discount on their car insurance. |
| New Vehicle | Insuring a vehicle with USAA that is less than 3 years old qualifies you for a discount on your auto insurance premiums. |
| Good Student | Full-time students who have a GPA of at least 3.0 are eligible to receive a discount. Drivers are also able to qualify if they are in the upper 20% of their class academically or by being on their schools’ scholastic achievement list — such as honor roll or dean’s list. |
| Family Discount | Having a family member who is also insured with USAA qualifies you for a discount. |
| Automatic Payments | Scheduling automatic payments can save drivers up to 3% with USAA. |
Highlighted discount: stored-vehicle discount
This is a very valuable discount that can mean up to 60% off your insurance premiums. Specifically this discount is extremely beneficial to members of the military who might be deployed for long periods of time. Drivers can qualify for this discount only if their vehicles are stored in secure locations and aren’t driven for at least 30 consecutive days.
Essentially, the savings that you get with this discount result from USAA changing or reducing coverages that you won’t use when you aren’t driving your vehicle, such as collision coverage. Other insurers might sell comprehensive-only insurance policies to protect a stored vehicle, but USAA’s Stored Vehicle Discount makes it really easy for drivers to save on insurance if they need to store their cars.
USAA auto insurance quotes
We compared quotes from multiple auto insurers and concluded that USAA’s rates were well below the average for almost every driver profile. The exception was for the quotes for families with multiple drivers. For these quotes, USAA’s annual premiums were 11% above the average across all insurers.
Our study revealed that for drivers who have recent accidents on their records, USAA’s rates were 12% below the mean. These profiles included drivers who have had an at-fault accident within the last five years. USAA’s prices were especially good for the 18- and 60-year-olds with accidents, at 29% below the average, according to the quotes we examined.
USAA Homeowners Insurance Review
USAA’s home insurance combines great rates and top-tier service with about typical coverage options, with one exception — its military specific benefits that will make its coverage extra-appealing to people on active duty.
USAA offered our sample homeowner rates 35% less expensive than its competitors — a savings of nearly $800 per year for a home with $300,000 of dwelling coverage.
We’re also big fans of USAA’s home insurance customer service. It has a complaint index of just 0.15 — that means it receives just 15% as many complaints as a typical company of its size, suggesting homeowners tend to be happy with the service received.
It’s among the top-ranked companies on J.D Power’s homeowners insurance satisfaction survey, as well. In many regions, it actually received the top score of any home insurer, though USAA’s military-only eligibility criteria kept it from receiving J.D. Power’s award for “best.”
Homeowner coverage options at USAA
USAA homeowners insurance provides all the coverage you’d expect from a top national insurer. Beyond those, USAA offers a few special benefits that many insurers don’t offer.
Military-Specific Benefits: USAA provides several benefits and perks in its homeowners insurance policies that specifically cater to active service members and their families. For one, USAA covers your belongings worldwide, even in an active warzone — many insurers don’t cover their policyholders’ items in warzones. USAA homeowners insurance policies also cover your military uniforms and equipment, and you won’t have to pay a deductible if those items are damaged on duty.
Identity Theft: All USAA homeowners policies provide up to $5,000 of coverage for losses related to identity theft. USAA also offers identity protection services, and the least-expensive level of ID protection offered is free for USAA customers.
Full Replacement Cost to Home and Belongings: USAA homeowners policies always cover the full replacement cost of your home and belongings. For example, if you buy a laptop for $1,000 and it’s stolen after you own it for two years, USAA will pay you $1,000 to replace it, even if the laptop had only been worth $500 at the time of theft. Some insurers only provide the actual cash value (ACV) or charge extra for replacement cost coverage.
Landlord Coverage: USAA provides coverage for landlords renting out their homes, whether the properties are long-term investments or you’re moving but not yet ready to sell. USAA provides coverage that protects you against liability claims and typical insurance perils like fire or weather damage. Plus, you’ll be compensated for lost income if your property is damaged from a covered loss.
USAA home insurance quotes: How much does it cost?
We were very impressed with the affordability of USAA home insurance. Across four coverage price points, we found that USAA offered a typical savings of 35% over the average company we looked at, resulting in savings of as much as $991.
We did come across rates from one competitor, Allstate Insurance, that were competitive with USAA. Its rates were only a few dollars more expensive than USAA’s for our sample property in Texas.
To understand how the cost of USAA homeowners insurance compared to other companies, we collected sample quotes for homes at four different levels of coverage from USAA, Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm.
USAA insurance discounts for homeowners
USAA doesn’t offer much in the way of additional discounts to its homeowners insurance customers. Customers can save 10% on their annual premiums if they have been claim-free for five years on their homeowners or renters insurance policy, and they can save up to 10% for bundling home and auto insurance together. USAA also provides discounts for equipping your home with certain safety features, such as a centrally monitored home security system or fire alarm, or an active sprinkler system.
However, USAA’s premiums are typically low enough that you’ll likely find a great price on homeowners insurance even without a lot of extra reductions.