Complaint Review: United Services Automobile Association (USAA) - Tampa Florida

"Yes, we know you and the rest of our customers dump tens of thousands of dollars into our company....So What!

And the Darwin Award goes to......Yes! Its USAA again!!!!!

In order for everyone to understand where I'm coming from the above statement, let me expand on the principle of such an accusation - OVERSIGHT! I have a car that's been run into parked and unattended by a runaway truck on two separate occasions, over the last few years. Yes, It's a strange coincidence, but through both experiences I have gained allot of insight into the prolific oversight in the insurance world.

In the spring of 1998, my 1996 Chevy Cavalier was hit head-on by a Ford F250 pickup truck parked in front of my house in Texas. Apparently, a three-year-old was left unattended and desired to teach himself how to drive a stick shift or at least shift his dad's truck out of gear - He succeeded. Anyway, my frying of the morning bacon was interrupted by the $5,600 dollars worth of damage to my car. The original estimate was the same or even a bit higher. This was way over the blue book value of the car (est. $4,600) and let's not forget the cost of the rental($350), and a filed claim for depreciative value($500).

I called USAA about this and gave them the information. Their response was quote, We know what we are doing and appreciate the concern, but we just don't have the time to follow up on every claim that appears to be excessive. Bottom line in this case is THEY DON'T CARE, and your premiums suffer for it! They (USAA) do not, in anyway, check on anything. They don't care if their appraisers are getting kickbacks from the Authorized Repair Facilities(Oh, you know what I'm talking about USAA) or if they themselves are spending excessive amounts on a repair. After all, its your money, not theirs, that pays out.

In December of 2002, just before Christmas, I had a couple of military police knocked on my door and informed me my car had just been hit again! This time by a runaway 1986 Ford Bronco II in front of my house in lower Alabama. The truck popped out of gear up the hill from me, and with no emergency brake applied, rolled down the hill toward my residence. The truck hit my car at an angle from the left. It smacked the drivers side of the car and pushed it five feet forward and a foot to the right, into and up onto the curb. It then proceeded to roll through four front yards and push a neighbors minivan into her house.

After this incident, I immediately called USAA to file a report. I told them what had happened and the damage appeared to be light, due to the impact being a glancing blow. I also told them I did not want to move the vehicle. They proceeded to tell me quote, Look sir, just take your car to one of our authorized shops and let them figure out the total damages. The little voice in my head was screaming, but I had faith (ignorance?) in my insurance company and had Christmas on the brain. After the holidays, I scheduled an inspection through a local authorized repair shop. I drove my car about 300 meters and the engine stopped working (not even out of the subdivision) and had to get it towed back to my house. I called the repair shop and told them what had happened. They said, No Problem! We'll take care of everything, sir! Oh, they took care of everything! After everything was said and done, I owed the repair shop $45 bucks for the tow, another $50 for the diagnostic, and another $45 to tow my car back to my house until I straightened out the following: Even though nothing was wrong with my vehicle before the accident, even though the parts they said failed (timing chain) had been replace a thousand miles ago, even though the engine broke only half a block from my house and being driven under the advisement of USAA, only the body damage was related to the accident.

I am sick of being jerked around and seeing money wasted by USAA! My vehicle should have been totaled the first time it was damaged. It cost over $6,000 to fix when it was only worth $4,600. This time the repairs are going to be close to $4,000. The car is only worth maybe $3400 at best!With this information, I have determined that USAA is living proof that crack doesn't smoke itself. The entire company must be under the influence of crack or some other mentally altering drug or substance. I say this because since the above happened I got a second opinion and as a matter of fact went all the way to getting a fifth opinion on said original claims by the repair shop. I went to five Chevrolet Dealer Service Stations and ALL estimates were the opposite. I just happen to have friends in the insurance industry and with their advisement and the information the Chevy Dealers have provided to me I am now filing suit against USAA as per this letter.

Oh, I almost forgot. I was reading a rebuttal by a Progressive employee whining about how she wasn't getting a Christmas bonus because of customer abuses of the insurance system and working 12 hour days, blah, blah, blah..etc. Listen, instead of blaming us, the consumers, she needs to look inside her company at all the golden parachutes set aside for CEOs and the internal abuses and oversights (out of sight out of mind) B.S. that goes on within ANY insurance company before she starts the finger pointing.

Matthew

Fort Rucker, Alabama
U.S.A.

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