Important: USAA insurance is only available to active military, veterans, and their families (spouses and children). If you are not eligible for USAA insurance, you may be interested in other prominent insurance providers, such as Progressive or Allstate.
Serving over 13 million members of the U.S. military, including veterans and their families, and employing over 36,000 members, the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) provides insurance coverage across key insurance verticals – vehicle, property, life, health, and business – as well as banking and investing solutions.
USAA has always been focused on the niche market of the U.S. military and their families. The eligible categories comprise officers and enlisted personnel, including officer candidates in commissioning programs (ROTC, OCS/OTC, or Academy), those in the National Guard and Reserve, those on active duty, and those retired or honorably discharged.
USAA is headquartered in San Antonio with a second major office in Phoenix. The other offices are in Tampa, Florida; Highland Falls, New York; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Plano, Texas; and Chesapeake, Virginia. The international offices are in Frankfurt and London.
USAA was founded in 1922 by a group of U.S. Army officers who were refused insurance as high-risk clients. Since then, it has expanded to offer multiple insurance, banking, and investing solutions. In 2018, the company was ranked 100 in the Fortune 500 list of the biggest U.S. companies by total revenue.
Read the detailed history of USAA here.
The most popular types of USAA insurance are reviewed below. For the complete list of USAA insurance plans, navigate the company’s official website.
| Basic Coverage | |
| Liability | Property damage, bodily injury, or death caused by the policyholder |
| Comprehensive | Flooding, fire, hail, glass damage, hitting an animal, and other acts of nature and events out of the policyholder’s control |
| Collision | Damage caused to the policyholder’s vehicle caused by a collision with a car or stationary object |
| Uninsured & Underinsured | Bodily injury caused to the policyholder and passengers and – depending on the state – property damage sustained by the policyholder if the at-fault driver’s coverage is not enough to cover the costs |
| Full Coverage | ‘Full coverage’ doesn’t exist as a plan with insurance companies, but it usually means collision and comprehensive coverage plus minimum liability coverage required by the state |
| Optional Coverage | |
| Rental Car Reimbursement | Rental car costs while the policyholder’s car is in the shop for repairs |
| Roadside Assistance | Services required if the policyholder’s car is disabled (for example, towing) |
| Discounts | |
| Discount varies | For students with good grades |
| Up to 30% | For having a clean driving record |
| Up to 10% | For garaging the policyholder’s car on a military installation |
| Up to 10% | For having multiple policies or covering multiple vehicles with USAA |
| Discount varies | For installing anti-theft devices |
| Up to 10% | For being a loyal USAA member |
USAA Auto Insurance Rates
The average annual cost of USAA auto insurance is $875, which is lower than most other prominent insurance companies.
The real cost of your USAA auto insurance depends on your policy limits, vehicle type and usage, deductible, driving history, and how much you drive.
To lower your auto insurance premium, you can take advantage of discounts, increase your deductible, drop the coverage you don’t need – for example, collisions and comprehensive coverage – or factor in the cost of coverage when selecting your car.
| Insurance Type | What Is Included? |
| Medicare |
|
| Individual and Family |
|
| Dental | Implant and orthodontic coverage options with no waiting periods. Available through a nationwide network embracing thousands of insurance providers. |
| Vision |
|
| Accidental Injury | Ambulance expenses, physician’s visits, emergency care, dental treatment, X-rays, laboratory services, nurse expenses, hospital room, board and nursing care, physician’s fee for surgeries, prescription drugs, and particular services outside the United States. |
| Discounts | |
| Active & Fit Direct | Various discounts for a large network of fitness centers and exercise studios. |
| GoodRx Gold | Up to 90% off on meds |
| Home Chef | Up to 50% on meal kits |
| ADT Medical Alert System | Free activation and overnight shipping of items, plus a $3 saving on monthly monitoring. |
There is no data regarding the average cost of USAA health insurance. However, the average annual cost of health insurance in the United States is $7,500.
The real cost of USAA health insurance depends on your policy, age, gender, medical history, pre-existing conditions, and other factors.
| Term Life Insurance |
Coverage limits: $100,000 to $10 million. Level Term V policies can be converted to permanent coverage.
Coverage limits: fixed at $100,000. Essential Term policies cannot be converted to permanent coverage. |
| Permanent Life Insurance |
Coverage limits: $25,000 to $10 million.
Coverage limits: $50,000 and more.
Coverage limits: $2,000 to $25,000 |
The minimum monthly premium for life insurance with USAA is $12 for Level Term V insurance and $15 for Essential Term insurance, which is about two times less than the average cost of life insurance in the United States.
USAA provides extra benefits for those on active or reserve duty:
The real cost of life insurance with USAA depends on your age, gender, health condition, family history, and the type and amount of coverage you want to get.
| Dwelling | Costs of repair or rebuilding of the policyholder’s home damaged or destroyed by a covered event |
| Personal Belongings | Repair or replacement costs of personal property items damaged or destroyed by a covered event |
| Home Sharing | Coverage for those renting out a home or room; covers both the leaser and guests |
| Earthquake | Earthquake coverage, reasonable in quake-prone locations |
| Loss of Use | Costs associated with relocation (rental and living) if the policyholder’s home is unlivable after a covered event |
| Personal Liability | Injuries or damage to a third-party |
| Other Structures | Detached storages, garages, driveways, fences, etc |
On top of homeowners insurance, USAA also provides coverage for renters, condos, landlords, umbrella insurance, and more property-protecting policies. The full list of policies is available in the ‘Insurance’ tab on the company’s website.
The average annual USAA homeowners insurance cost is $1,700, which is lower than the market average. The real cost of USAA homeowners insurance depends on the policyholder’s state, type of dwelling, history or claims, insurance scores, and other factors.
USAA provides a 10% claims-free discount for owners of home, condo, and renters insurance plans who had no claims for five or more consecutive years. Also, there’s a 10% discount for bundling homeowners and auto insurance policies.
USAA pet insurance reimburses the policyholder if the covered animal is injured or sick.
| Covered | Not Covered |
| Breed-specific and chronic conditions, cancer treatment, emergency room and specialist care, hospitalization, surgeries, nursing care, behavioral and alternative therapy and rehabilitation, prescription drugs, congenital conditions, and diagnostic testing and imaging. | Pre-existing conditions, whelping, breeding, pregnancy, deliberate injuries and injuries caused by cruelty, fighting, or neglect; cosmetic procedures (claw removal, docking, and ear cropping unless medically necessary), DNA testing, cloning, stem cell therapy (unless medically necessary) |
The average monthly cost of USAA pet insurance is $30, which is higher than the market average. However, USAA provides discounts to current and former military, amounting to at least 25%.
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent for military, veterans, and their families | Non-military cannot apply |
| Affordable | |
| High customer satisfaction rates | |
| Multiple discounts and perks for military |
| AM Best | A++: Superior financial strength |
| BBB | A+ |
| Moody’s | Aa1: Excellent |
| S&P Global | AA+: Very strong |
| J.D. Power | 890 out of 1,000 points according to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study |
USAA customer service reviews are quite ambiguous. On the one hand, most official reviewers claim USAA to be one of the best insurers and an absolute number one for the military. On the other hand, on sites like Trustpilot, you can find plenty of negative feedback regarding the customer services of the insurance company.
Based on that, the overall feeling is that the quality of the customer service of USAA may not be equally good for all customers at all times, though most clients will be satisfied with what they get.
USAA scores the following ratings according to over 3,700 reviews on Indeed (out of 5 maximum points):
Average annual salaries for popular roles are as follows:
To learn how to join USAA, navigate to this webpage. USAA membership is free. Once you’re a member, you can enroll for USAA insurance, banking, and investing products.
For help, complaints, and requests, visit the USAA contact page.
