USAA premiums

[LuvOrlando]

So about 2 months I go I got a water leak where water was literally dripping on my husband. Terrible storm and I called USAA be a little nervous and I sent some guy from completely different state to do the appraisal he seemed like he was wasted and said he didn’t see anything, really weird about the whole thing they sent me $1000 and punched out. Very weird but it didn’t exactly get my attention because I figured maybe it was just a fluke and if there’s really nothing wrong with the house who cares ... I still didn’t cash the check because I don’t really trust her but wasn’t going to make a thing.

So my kid is at college, we got her a renter policy. She slipped and broke her laptop and iPhone. Usaa made us jump through hoops to get appointments and appraisals then rejected the phone part of the claim saying they don’t do phones- news to me.

I called asking for ALL my policies to review for coverages I may misunderstand and the woman kept me on the phone for over 2 and a half hours to print, would t answer questions until she said she was done- I got the impression she was stalling or hoping I’d back off. I got it all today, it looked intimidating and realized she sent me 5 copies of most of the documents... not exaggerating. Patiently looking I realize my umbrella is now over 4 times more than it was in the beginning. Thinking I may switch because this is just too weird I starting reading all coverages and it seems like they did excessive changes.

Has anyone else switched cars, house, rental and umbrella and been happy? I’ve been a member my whole life and it never occurred to me to change until now, I feel my trust was misplaced- not the company it used to be

 

[minorthr]

we've looked at switching car\home owner insurance a few times from usaa to someone else and no one has ever been able to touch it and we never had issues. After 20 years we finally had a homeowners claim from a pipe bursting which caused about $11k in total damage. when the policy renewed it doubled in price and we have been waiting over a year to have the basement repaired as the guy they sent the check too has basically vanished.

it has had me looking at switching again.

 

[Suzabella]

We've had USAA for over 25 years and we've noticed the customer service has declined. I will say that we filed our first claim last year after finding wind damage from a tornado to our roof. The process was seamless and USAA was terrific to work with. At that point we were ready to switch also but this bought them a reprieve. One thing to add, my DH was active duty and i've heard that they subcontract a large portion of their policies to a third party. Just not active duty/retirees. Our kids signed up and they were told they'd be insured with a 3rd party company. Not sure if that's still true though...anyone know?

 

[Kaufeegurl]

We've had USAA for over 25 years and we've noticed the customer service has declined. I will say that we filed our first claim last year after finding wind damage from a tornado to our roof. The process was seamless and USAA was terrific to work with. At that point we were ready to switch also but this bought them a reprieve. One thing to add, my DH was active duty and i've heard that they subcontract a large portion of their policies to a third party. Just not active duty/retirees. Our kids signed up and they were told they'd be insured with a 3rd party company. Not sure if that's still true though...anyone know?

Yes, each generation removed from the original USAA service has their own "umbrella" company. We have USAA through DH's father and he was the original member. We are USAA-CIC (casualty insurance company) and our children are USAA-Garrison. I think pricing gets more expensive as you go through the line. We have been members for over 30 years and have also noticed a decline in customer service. I will be reviewing our policies and getting some alternative pricing later this year. My son has already left USAA for much better pricing on home and auto.

 

[Kaufeegurl]

I can honestly say that pricing and service have declined since they opened the company up to everyone. Originally, USAA was officers only. Then was opened to enlisted above a certain grade. Now I believe it is open to all service members. With their new business model, USAA now has the challenges and liabilities that all other insurance companies face and it shows in their rates and quality of service. We have been with them a long time, but like many other long-time USAA members, we will be looking elsewhere for better rates for the first time. USAA's customer service has declined while others have improved. I really think USAA is living on their reputation these days.

 

[Suzabella]

Our kids have left also. I have been waiting for our premiums to go up but so far, so good. We've also noticed our 401K with them isn't earning as well as our 401K with Wells Fargo anymore. It's allocated very similar. It's a shame. They used to be so good.

 

[LuvOrlando]

we've looked at switching car\home owner insurance a few times from usaa to someone else and no one has ever been able to touch it and we never had issues. After 20 years we finally had a homeowners claim from a pipe bursting which caused about $11k in total damage. when the policy renewed it doubled in price and we have been waiting over a year to have the basement repaired as the guy they sent the check too has basically vanished.

it has had me looking at switching again.

I believe it, it’s like they let go

 

[LuvOrlando]

We've had USAA for over 25 years and we've noticed the customer service has declined. I will say that we filed our first claim last year after finding wind damage from a tornado to our roof. The process was seamless and USAA was terrific to work with. At that point we were ready to switch also but this bought them a reprieve. One thing to add, my DH was active duty and i've heard that they subcontract a large portion of their policies to a third party. Just not active duty/retirees. Our kids signed up and they were told they'd be insured with a 3rd party company. Not sure if that's still true though...anyone know?

See, this was what I was used to but now it’s just not the same. I was always OK with paying more because it was such an incredible experience but now I feel like I’m paying for a brand getting something inferior.

The third party thing totally makes sense, my 20 yo daughters policy seemed like they handled it even worse than they handled my claim. I wanted to see the policies side-by-side I think that’s why the woman was giving me such a hard time she didn’t want me to look under the hood.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Yes, each generation removed from the original USAA service has their own "umbrella" company. We have USAA through DH's father and he was the original member. We are USAA-CIC (casualty insurance company) and our children are USAA-Garrison. I think pricing gets more expensive as you go through the line. We have been members for over 30 years and have also noticed a decline in customer service. I will be reviewing our policies and getting some alternative pricing later this year. My son has already left USAA for much better pricing on home and auto.

If you review your policies please let me know how it goes. It was honestly a surreal experience keeping me on the phone for over 2 1/2 hours then seeing she printed some collections of pages 5 times then mailed them. Just bizarre

 

[zoo2tycoon]

We had USAA (through my dad) for HO and Auto for years. About 7 years ago I actually compared our policies from previous years and with no claims my HO had almost doubled in 3 years! I shopped around and went to Allstate for half the price and same coverages. Had claim from tornado damage through Allstate and it was handled great.

I shop around yearly now (just did last week). I’ve done Hartford, Allstate and currently we are on 3rd year with State Farm.

I did call USAA and the HO was still several hundred more for same coverage but auto was similar price to State Farm.

My parents (80’s) are USAA and won’t switch or check rates elsewhere. The same with my sister.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I can honestly say that pricing and service have declined since they opened the company up to everyone. Originally, USAA was officers only. Then was opened to enlisted above a certain grade. Now I believe it is open to all service members. With their new business model, USAA now has the challenges and liabilities that all other insurance companies face and it shows in their rates and quality of service. We have been with them a long time, but like many other long-time USAA members, we will be looking elsewhere for better rates for the first time. USAA's customer service has declined while others have improved. I really think USAA is living on their reputation these days.

Ok so it’s not just me. My kids have USAA numbers and I have already put them on the path but it’s been bugging me. Uggh so much paperwork, but if they aren’t who they were I just need to suck it up and look.

 

[starry_solo]

So far USAA has been fine to me. My generation is the policy holder under the original one and they've been fine.

OP: do either of you have an online account? You should be able to get copies of your policies that way.

I don't like how they are advertising though and opening it up to a lot more people

 

[LuvOrlando]

We had USAA (through my dad) for HO and Auto for years. About 7 years ago I actually compared our policies from previous years and with no claims my HO had almost doubled in 3 years! I shopped around and went to Allstate for half the price and same coverages. Had claim from tornado damage through Allstate and it was handled great.

I shop around yearly now (just did last week). I’ve done Hartford, Allstate and currently we are on 3rd year with State Farm.

I did call USAA and the HO was still several hundred more for same coverage but auto was similar price to State Farm.

My parents (80’s) are USAA and won’t switch or check rates elsewhere. The same with my sister.

I totally get the trust in USAA because I never ever had anything weird happen before. The last & only real time I needed was back with Sandy when my whole roof was ruined & covered and that was wonderful, sone of my neighbors had tarps over their homes & their insurance companies didn’t want to pay and they were locked in litigation but USAA stepped up stepped in covered everything no headaches.

Last month was the first time anything popped up since then because I wasn’t sure if there is real damage or plumbing damage. The fact that they sent some wasted weirdo who just wrote it off is not a problem and walked away was the first time I felt exposed . If I’m not going to be covered and get poor coverage then I should save my money to take care of my own stuff and pay lower premiums.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So far USAA has been fine to me. My generation is the policy holder under the original one and they've been fine.

OP: do either of you have an online account? You should be able to get copies of your policies that way.

I don't like how they are advertising though and opening it up to a lot more people

You know what I didn’t know anything was off until I had a potential claim last month that was very strange it’s just not one of those things that you notice until you have to test it. I guess it’s like the tires on a car, you never know that they’re messed up until it’s actually raining and you realize you’re hydroplaning all over the place. I kind of feel like that right now, Like I got a warning

 

[LuvOrlando]

Maybe the recent events were a good thing because they’re forcing me to read 26 years of contracts, stuff I haven’t even considered since I bought my house much less researched.

So I miread, immediate family members are always covered no matter how old they are in place you’re renting or live.

Phones are definitely not covered, seems no matter what, which I didn’t know.

I need to wait for my daughter to wake up to see what they decided to do with her laptop

 

[DisArmyWife215]

We've looked at switching but have never been able to find anything cost comparable. We had a similar experience with an emergency repair when someone ran into our porch/garage. I didn't care for the guy they sent out to do the boarding up. He submitted his quote and we told USAA we were going to go with our own contractor. He just had to be within the quote from the 1st guy sent so no problem. Car related we always go to the shop we choose, they are USAA approved. I would recommend having them review your policies. We did that a few years back and it saved us even more. You also can view and print all your documents from their website. No need to sit on the phone with them, especially if it seems they didn't really know what they were doing, and sending your 5 copies of the same thing.

 

[jhoannam]

We've thought about switching too, because our Home premium keeps increasing but that's mostly due to the fact that we keep having lots of damaging storms in the area. We don't have an umbrella policy, just home, auto and life for myself. Unfortunately, DH only qualifies for the expensive VGLI.

We've always had great experience, I've had them replace 2 MacBook pros. The last one I dropped and it was 6 years old, I took it to the Apple store and they no longer make the parts to repair it. I worked with a really nice guy there and he wrote me a letter stating that they won't repair it. I sent the letter along with a picture of the cracked screen and within 24 hours I had $2,200 in my Chase account. Would have been instant if I had it deposited in our USAA account.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We've looked at switching but have never been able to find anything cost comparable. We had a similar experience with an emergency repair when someone ran into our porch/garage. I didn't care for the guy they sent out to do the boarding up. He submitted his quote and we told USAA we were going to go with our own contractor. He just had to be within the quote from the 1st guy sent so no problem. Car related we always go to the shop we choose, they are USAA approved. I would recommend having them review your policies. We did that a few years back and it saved us even more. You also can view and print all your documents from their website. No need to sit on the phone with them, especially if it seems they didn't really know what they were doing, and sending your 5 copies of the same thing.

I haven’t really called anyone else but you’re the first person who said the premiums are about the same do you mind if I ask if you own a home or if you rent? I think the rental policies seem pretty comparable, I think it’s weird that my umbrella jumped so much, I think it’s weird that my 2002 beater car never really dropped in premium

 

[LuvOrlando]

We've thought about switching too, because our Home premium keeps increasing but that's mostly due to the fact that we keep having lots of damaging storms in the area. We don't have an umbrella policy, just home, auto and life for myself. Unfortunately, DH only qualifies for the expensive VGLI.

We've always had great experience, I've had them replace 2 MacBook pros. The last one I dropped and it was 6 years old, I took it to the Apple store and they no longer make the parts to repair it. I worked with a really nice guy there and he wrote me a letter stating that they won't repair it. I sent the letter along with a picture of the cracked screen and within 24 hours I had $2,200 in my Chase account. Would have been instant if I had it deposited in our USAA account.

See that’s the thing that’s the kind of care I came to expect and I’ve had until recently... I’m really curious whether or not my daughters policy for renting looks like the one we have for the place where my husband works.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

I haven’t really called anyone else but you’re the first person who said the premiums are about the same do you mind if I ask if you own a home or if you rent? I think the rental policies seem pretty comparable, I think it’s weird that my umbrella jumped so much, I think it’s weird that my 2002 beater car never really dropped in premium

We own our home. Have never done rental insurance with them.