Complaint Review: USAA

Sounds to me like alot of folks out there don't trust insurance companies. But it sounds to me like it should be the other way around! Bea, if you have a person IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD of driving age and with access to the vehicles you need to tell the company. I was an adjuster years ago and I saw accidents EVERY DAY where the underage driver took the vehicle for a drive and wrecked it. Regardless of whether or not they were allowed, or were supposed to, or believe it or not; even whether or not they had good or bad grades! I know it's hard to believe your little 17yr old would do something like that, but IT HAPPENS.

If that person is old enough to operate the vehicle they need to be either listed as an operator or specifically excluded. Plain and simple. If your son were living elsewhere and you were paying his insurance, and in that elsewhere place there were several other 'young' drivers; wouldn't you want assurances that they were not operating the vehicle you were insuring?..or that at least IF one of them gained access to the vehicle that YOUR policy wouldn't be responsible for their accidents? That is what USAA is doing. It's trying to accurately assess the risk your household proposes. Not cheat you!

Man, this is a person who doesn't have a clue. Ask any of the thousands of Ex-USAA employees who were layed off and replaced by foreign, non-citizen workers. It's kind of funny if a term could be used to describe the opposite of outsourcing, where the jobs go overseas but no, the workers come here from overseas and we get layed off. Take a spin down Fredericksburg between 4 and 6 and you'll see what I mean. USAA fighting with a local TV station over CONFIDENTIAL facts,figures and tapes about their hiring practices. Respected by Whom, probably other CEO's, CFO's and such.

Mike,
1. My son, 17 years old, does NOT have a permit.
2. My son, 17 years old, does NOT have a license.
3. My son, 17 years old, is NOT allowed to drive,park, move or otherwise sit behind the steering wheel of any of our vehicles under any circumstances!!! so I have NOT lied to USAA.

I belive that driving is a privelege, not a right, therefore if he is to drive he must adhere to certain rules, #1 being good grades.
Harsh, yes, but so is life.
I have had USAA for over 20 years and have conscientiously provided updates as necessary over those 20 years. I resent them as a company trying to catch me doing something wrong. I realize it's a business, however, with the homeowner (3) policies and auto (3) policies that we have, and the few claimes processed, we've earned some trust here. THANK YOU!!!!

This is amazing -- I never expected to see USAA listed in this report. As a former military dependant, I have insured with USAA for years, had various accidents, tickets and other issues, and have always been dealt with in the most courteous way possible.

Their rates have gone up a bit recently, as part of their process of putting the insurance wing of the group on a stronger footing, but this MUTUAL insurance company has no reason to rip you off.

Insuree's of USAA are essentially the owners of USAA (hence the annual dividend check). This is one of the most respected and best insurance companies in the United States - I have never had problems with them paying a claim, their reputation in the auto industry is second to none, and the rates are comparable to the biggest discounters out there.

WOW! All of this makes me a little quesy. What happened to telling the truth? If you feel you need to lie to your current insurance company--then choose another one. No one holds a gun to your head.
An insurance policy is a legal contract--if you agree to it, then expect the company to enforce it. Don't whine.

As for the gentleman's (sic), in Delaware, advise, I would twice about using his illegal and fraudulant techniques. Insurance fraud is a federal offense.
And think three times about taking advise from someone that can't write proper English.

If you are not a USAA member, you do not know what the company is all about. Incidentally-- I know for a fact that only one accident with nothing paid to anyone does not increase your insurance premium. Sounds like Bea is leaving a few things out of her story.

WOW! All of this makes me a little quesy. What happened to telling the truth? If you feel you need to lie to your current insurance company--then choose another one. No one holds a gun to your head.
An insurance policy is a legal contract--if you agree to it, then expect the company to enforce it. Don't whine.

As for the gentleman's (sic), in Delaware, advise, I would twice about using his illegal and fraudulant techniques. Insurance fraud is a federal offense.
And think three times about taking advise from someone that can't write proper English.

If you are not a USAA member, you do not know what the company is all about. Incidentally-- I know for a fact that only one accident with nothing paid to anyone does not increase your insurance premium. Sounds like Bea is leaving a few things out of her story.

WOW! All of this makes me a little quesy. What happened to telling the truth? If you feel you need to lie to your current insurance company--then choose another one. No one holds a gun to your head.
An insurance policy is a legal contract--if you agree to it, then expect the company to enforce it. Don't whine.

As for the gentleman's (sic), in Delaware, advise, I would twice about using his illegal and fraudulant techniques. Insurance fraud is a federal offense.
And think three times about taking advise from someone that can't write proper English.

If you are not a USAA member, you do not know what the company is all about. Incidentally-- I know for a fact that only one accident with nothing paid to anyone does not increase your insurance premium. Sounds like Bea is leaving a few things out of her story.

WOW! All of this makes me a little quesy. What happened to telling the truth? If you feel you need to lie to your current insurance company--then choose another one. No one holds a gun to your head.
An insurance policy is a legal contract--if you agree to it, then expect the company to enforce it. Don't whine.

As for the gentleman's (sic), in Delaware, advise, I would twice about using his illegal and fraudulant techniques. Insurance fraud is a federal offense.
And think three times about taking advise from someone that can't write proper English.

If you are not a USAA member, you do not know what the company is all about. Incidentally-- I know for a fact that only one accident with nothing paid to anyone does not increase your insurance premium. Sounds like Bea is leaving a few things out of her story.

Be wary of "phone" surveys. USAA has a standard mail-out, sent out at random, every year. That is the only true survey they do for statistical purposes. Everything else falls into two categories: Policy Verification and Adjustment and the other is Marketing.

Recently, USAA took on a marketing tactic of "advising" members when they call about other parts of USAA. If you express any interest in them, you could be called back later by the other sectors (i.e. Life, Investment Managment, Property and Casualty). Don't blame the rep though.

Their jobs literally depend on how well they market these opportunties. It is part of their yearly review. The best approach to save the low-end rep and save yourself the headache: Listen to the two to three sentence schpiel, then politely decline. The rep has done their part and you shouldn't be hassled.

As far as policy adjustments, every so often the main computer system runs an update check on policies, normally a month or two before your year-end renewal. It checks for variances in your policy and deviations from the norm (like a 17 year old who is listed as part of your family but not on the insurance policy).

When you answer these question, have a copy of your policy with you so you can compare what they ask to what you have stated in the past...lapses in memory can cost you a small fortune. And if you say what they want to hear and then realize it is wrong, it can be a nightmare to change.
Just a few helpful tips.

Be wary of "phone" surveys. USAA has a standard mail-out, sent out at random, every year. That is the only true survey they do for statistical purposes. Everything else falls into two categories: Policy Verification and Adjustment and the other is Marketing.

Recently, USAA took on a marketing tactic of "advising" members when they call about other parts of USAA. If you express any interest in them, you could be called back later by the other sectors (i.e. Life, Investment Managment, Property and Casualty). Don't blame the rep though.

Their jobs literally depend on how well they market these opportunties. It is part of their yearly review. The best approach to save the low-end rep and save yourself the headache: Listen to the two to three sentence schpiel, then politely decline. The rep has done their part and you shouldn't be hassled.

As far as policy adjustments, every so often the main computer system runs an update check on policies, normally a month or two before your year-end renewal. It checks for variances in your policy and deviations from the norm (like a 17 year old who is listed as part of your family but not on the insurance policy).

When you answer these question, have a copy of your policy with you so you can compare what they ask to what you have stated in the past...lapses in memory can cost you a small fortune. And if you say what they want to hear and then realize it is wrong, it can be a nightmare to change.
Just a few helpful tips.

Be wary of "phone" surveys. USAA has a standard mail-out, sent out at random, every year. That is the only true survey they do for statistical purposes. Everything else falls into two categories: Policy Verification and Adjustment and the other is Marketing.

Recently, USAA took on a marketing tactic of "advising" members when they call about other parts of USAA. If you express any interest in them, you could be called back later by the other sectors (i.e. Life, Investment Managment, Property and Casualty). Don't blame the rep though.

Their jobs literally depend on how well they market these opportunties. It is part of their yearly review. The best approach to save the low-end rep and save yourself the headache: Listen to the two to three sentence schpiel, then politely decline. The rep has done their part and you shouldn't be hassled.

As far as policy adjustments, every so often the main computer system runs an update check on policies, normally a month or two before your year-end renewal. It checks for variances in your policy and deviations from the norm (like a 17 year old who is listed as part of your family but not on the insurance policy).

When you answer these question, have a copy of your policy with you so you can compare what they ask to what you have stated in the past...lapses in memory can cost you a small fortune. And if you say what they want to hear and then realize it is wrong, it can be a nightmare to change.
Just a few helpful tips.

Be wary of "phone" surveys. USAA has a standard mail-out, sent out at random, every year. That is the only true survey they do for statistical purposes. Everything else falls into two categories: Policy Verification and Adjustment and the other is Marketing.

Recently, USAA took on a marketing tactic of "advising" members when they call about other parts of USAA. If you express any interest in them, you could be called back later by the other sectors (i.e. Life, Investment Managment, Property and Casualty). Don't blame the rep though.

Their jobs literally depend on how well they market these opportunties. It is part of their yearly review. The best approach to save the low-end rep and save yourself the headache: Listen to the two to three sentence schpiel, then politely decline. The rep has done their part and you shouldn't be hassled.

As far as policy adjustments, every so often the main computer system runs an update check on policies, normally a month or two before your year-end renewal. It checks for variances in your policy and deviations from the norm (like a 17 year old who is listed as part of your family but not on the insurance policy).

When you answer these question, have a copy of your policy with you so you can compare what they ask to what you have stated in the past...lapses in memory can cost you a small fortune. And if you say what they want to hear and then realize it is wrong, it can be a nightmare to change.
Just a few helpful tips.

Not too long ago,I received a call from USAA one night, a "survey" about my wife and my driving habits. The rep asked a numbers of questions about our vehicles and and their mileage. Two days later I receive an adjustment to our insurance bill. It wasn't much. Be cautious when speaking with these people. It isn't as innocent as you may believe. There is some merit to paying ins. based upon miles driven.

It appears B- was a more sensible employee than mikey and offers some good points to save victims money...

I have some more good advice for pizza hut boyz and the likes:

If you wanna be safe when making your deliveries, (because you aint told the big insurance comp'ney what your doin') then just throw the pizzas in the trunk, and keep yourself an extra shirt or somethin to cover up that pizza hut logo. Then in the unlikely event you have a "bump" you can just tell the cops and the insurance company "You were just out for a cruise". -Of course this only works if your "boss" isnt too strict on making you keep that dumb sign on your car,- or your smart enuff to take it off yourself first chance you get.

B- prolly wont agree with my tactics, but It saved me mucho casho and if your my kinda guy then this plan is for you....

Helping the uninsurable everywhere....

Look, I agree with both you for starters. Risk is a big concern for insurance companies. It is what insurance is about. Will they get into an accident? Well if they do, this is how much we charge. It is not personalized for each person, unfortunately, so to an insurance company 1 accident is the same across the board, regardless of intentions or situations.

However, having been a USAA employee I know that the help you are looking for from a claims department isn't there. You want to call and get answers and the rep just wants the information from you about what happened. It is something that they have to because there are unscrupulous people out there. Technically, you are supposed to report all accidents at-fault and not-at-fault. It is the nature of the beast. Does it make it right? No, but that is just the way it is.

As far as your son is concerned, Mikey is right. Having worked at USAA I know that if he does get into an accident with or without a license, USAA's policy (as of a few years ago) was to cover the accident then add the dependent, then raise the rate accordingly. Legally, it can be done. Unscrupulous, yes. But still legal as long as they pay for it. If you add him as an excluded driver, he is then listed as a resident of the household, but not charged to the policy. If and when you do this, call back within 2 days to verify he is an excluded driver because mistake do happen. This will get them to leave you alone for a while.

And about the not telling the insurance company about working as a pizza delivery driver, BAD IDEA. If you claim that you or your dependent use the vehicle for commute or recreational use and instead use it for a business, you can lose your coverage and have a claim denied in an instant. It is called falsifing an application and insurance companies take it very seriously. I know you want to save on your insurance, but having it canceled for withholding information is a bad idea.

Quick tips on how to save money: Look for discounts- Most states offer discounts for good students (all A's or A's and B's) and if your kids share a car it works out even better if you list one as the occasional driver. Also, DO NOT BUY YOUR KID A NEW CAR! I know they all want one, but if you get an older model vehicle that you can own outright you don't have to get collision coverage (coverage that pays if your child is at fault) and it can save you anywhere from $400- $2000 a year depending on the company.
No kids? Look at dropping off the collision and comprehensive coverage if you can. Generally rule of thumb- If your collision coverage per year is more than 15% of the car's value, you might want to lose it. Auto insurance pays FMV (fair market value) not replacement cost if a vehicle is totalled. So your 64 Mustang might cost you $12k to get one just like it, it might only be worth $4k and the $4k is what you get.

Just some tips and advice. Hope it helps.

Bea, from what you have written about this company, it seems its practices are downright DEPLORABLE!!!

First of all, you say that you werent even sure if there WAS an accident, then there was NOT even a police report made, and Im sure there was little or NO damage so of course you were wondering if this had been turned in by the other party or not.

Given all these facts, the company had NO RIGHT to try to pull such a FAST ONE and increase your rates. You should CONTEST this to the fullest. If there was NO police report made, and NO accident report turned in, who is to say that this accident really happened or NOT, certainly you didnt think there was, so what is to stop people from just turning in accident reports all day long, and getting other peoples rates jacked. If they dont reduce your rates, I would be talking to your ATTORNEY GENERAL. Might also want to file complaints with the BBB and any other consumer protection agency you can find. MY FAVORITE: Get a personalized bumper sticker made that says: USAA AUTO INSURNANCE COMPANY SUCKS!!! (might even want to add-"READ ALL ABOUT THEM AT RIPOFFREPORT.COM!!!")-because other drivers might want to know about your experiences with them when it comes time to choose or recommend an insurance company for themselves or their friends or family.


As far as MIKEY from Cleveland, ignore this piece of trash. He obviously works for this SHYSTER company. DONT, I repeat DONT! fill out this update. Do you think the insurance company would waste their "valuable" time trying to get you to fill this out if they werent going to JACK UP YOUR RATES IMMEDIATELY afterward??? They obvioulsly wasted NO TIME in raising them ALREADY! They wouldnt be wasting their time on you like this if they could SAVE you any money NOW WOULD THEY???!!!

The best thing to do if there ever is an accident, and it is not serious, (or even if it is) is DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO KEEP THIS FROM BEING TURNED IN TO THE INSURANCE COMPANIES...(unless of course that you want to defraud them, then that is an entirely different ballgame! ;-)... So offer the other person a few bucks if you feel that it is your fault, and keep a copy of this ripp off report with you so you can share your experiences with insurance companies in the past. MAKE SURE THAT YOU LET THEM KNOW THAT THE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE NOT THERE TO HELP YOU, BUT TO RIPP YOU OFF!!!!
This always works for me, and even if you have to pay a little for damages (I havent) this is only a ONE TIME fee whereas the insurance companies will MAKE YOU PAY FOR IT FOREVER!!! (A HUNDRED FOLD!!)

So always keep a few bucks on you, and keep a copy of this ripp off report in the glove box!!

A SIDE NOTE for pizza delivery drivers and the likes: DO NOT EVER!!!! EVER!!!....tell the ins company what your doing, or that your job involves any type of driving...THEY WILL WASTE NO TIME IN JACKING YOUR RATES!!!!! Is that something that you WANT????

I need no credit for this, I hope you learned sumthin! ;-)

P.S.- As far as that "lady" that (claimed) you hit her, Dont worry bout her, she is just Mikey's wife trying to make his company a few extra bucks because the economys tight right now.

Fighting the good fight---

Check your policy, I guarantee it's written in there somewhere : "You must report any accident to us, regardless of severity or fault"

The fact that you rearended someone places you at a higher risk and therefore the rates must be adjusted accordingly, regardless of whether or not anything was paid out on the claim. Insurance is all about risk and you should really read the contract.

Your son is 17 years old and therefore is of legal driving age, if he's not driving he should be listed on the policy as an excluded driver, this will not increase your rates, but he will not be covered while driving the policy vehicles. Otherwise, your rates need to go up to coincide with the added risk of insuring him. Young drivers cause a lot of accidents and make insurance companies pay out a lot of money - therefore there is more risk to the company to insure them. Again, refer to the policy, if he is of legal driving age and resides in your household he needs to be listed. Insurance companies normally make about 4 cents on the dollar from your premiums when you take into account operating costs and claims. So it is important to keep the rates accurate. They are right to pursue this and you are wrong to lie to them. If your son is involved in an accident and injures someone at this point the claim will likely be denied for material misrep as you deliberately ignored their requests. This could result in an enormous financial loss to you. Most companies would just add him to the policy without asking you if they knew he was living in the household. Stop lying to your insurance company and fulfill your end of the contract.

Again, if he will not be driving, you can add him to the policy as an excluded driver - this will not effect your rates - however remember that he will not be covered while driving your vehicles. He is a resident relative and therefore needs to be listed, or specifically excluded.