USAA

[MD]

USAA has been good in some ways, lousy in others.....and growing over the years. I'm almost done with using them once I pay off a CC. USAAs home loan rates and offers have never been good. State Farm has been working well for home as well as auto.

[SurelySerious]

Just had USAA increase my premium (no accidents), and as a kicker they have a past incident classified as an "at fault accident," (it was not) which means quotes with other companies, while still lower than USAA, are higher than they should be. Nice two front tactic USAA, but I'll be dropping your auto insurance.

[Bode]

Just had USAA increase my premium (no accidents), and as a kicker they have a past incident classified as an "at fault accident," (it was not) which means quotes with other companies, while still lower than USAA, are higher than they should be. Nice two front tactic USAA, but I'll be dropping your auto insurance.

So were you at fault in an accident?

[Jaded]

You seriously think that their "tactic" is to fraudulently classify accidents to make other companies comparative rates rise? 

Are you one of those people that think 9/11 was an inside job? 

[SurelySerious]

Just had USAA increase my premium (no accidents), and as a kicker they have a past incident classified as an "at fault accident," (it was not) which means quotes with other companies, while still lower than USAA, are higher than they should be. Nice two front tactic USAA, but I'll be dropping your auto insurance.

So were you at fault in an accident?

Not as I understand it. Hit a deer; to my knowledge that's a not-fault, which was reinforced by my conversations with several other insurance companies who questioned why it was at fault.

[SurelySerious]

You seriously think that their "tactic" is to fraudulently classify accidents to make other companies comparative rates rise? 

Are you one of those people that think 9/11 was an inside job? 

No, but if their record keeping is that poor, I don't want to be a part of it.

[Jaded]

This is going to sound like a crazy idea, but have you tried calling them? 

[SurelySerious]

This is going to sound like a crazy idea, but have you tried calling them? 

Yes.

[MD]

USAA has been "just another insurance company" for quite a while now.

[sixpack]

USAA has been going down the shitter lately. They use to have the best rates for everything.  Over the past few years I've been doing better looking elsewhere for loans, insurance rates and credit cards. Only thing beneficial now is their checking where they refund your atm fees. 

Edited March 30, 2016 by sixpack

[RTB]

We just moved to Georgia from Florida and we were expecting our insurance to go down a little.  In fact, the USAA rep I was talking to was certain the rate would be lower in Georgia but no, when she submitted the quote, it actually increased.  And we haven't had an auto insurance claim in over 15 years.  Decided to shop around a little with a few other companies and on a straight apples to apples comparison of coverages and deductibles, USAA was about the same as the others.  Cheaper than some by a couple bucks, more than others by a couple bucks.  Geico was appreciably cheaper but after some terrible experiences with them in the past, I didn't want to give them my business.  USAA is certainly not the big savings I remember from years ago, but for now I'll stay with them.  

[Termy]

I have probably complained about USAA's savings rate on here before, but I try to never miss an opportunity to do so.  There is no reason whatsoever their banking, CD, and money market rates shouldn't be competitive.  They aren't even competitive with brick and mortar banks/credit unions let alone internet.  It is a massive disservice to its members and I let them know every single time I talk to them.  Even with interest rates at nearly all time lows, if you have some cash to park, make sure you shop around. 

[Homestar]

Moved all my investments and insurance out of USAA last year. No regrets. Stayed with them for checking, savings, and a credit card. They just weren't competitive on insurance rates or expense ratios. 

Edited March 30, 2016 by Homestar

[Nobody]

What about their mutual funds?  I parked my next homes down payment (~30k) in their USCCX cornerstone conservative fund because the interest rates in my USAA savings account is laughable.  Although I've lost a few k I marked it up to market volatility...  I'll be upfront and say I know "0" when it comes to investing other than maxing out my Roth tsp l2040 fund.  Should I look into moving the money elsewhere or ride it out, I assumed their mutual funds were great...

[brabus]

Recommend Vanguard - easy for a dude who doesn't know/want to learn a bunch regarding investing, low expense ratios, and good performing funds overall.  Way better than USAA.

[SurelySerious]

What about their mutual funds?  I parked my next homes down payment (~30k) in their USCCX cornerstone conservative fund because the interest rates in my USAA savings account is laughable.  Although I've lost a few k I marked it up to market volatility...  I'll be upfront and say I know "0" when it comes to investing other than maxing out my Roth tsp l2040 fund.  Should I look into moving the money elsewhere or ride it out, I assumed their mutual funds were great...

Standard it depends. Some of their best funds are indexed...where performance is pretty similar across companies, and since their expenses ratios are much higher than, say, Vanguard, it's not a good deal.

[baileynme]

I'll take this opportunity to plug Navy Federal Credit Union. I'm biased as I have family that worked their but most of their rates are competitive with USAA. When it comes time to take out a new loan I just go with whichever one has the best deal at the time.

[Jaded]

Their mutual fund expense ratios are way high. It can cost you tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. I would also recommend vanguard. You can purchase vanguard ETFs through the USAA brokerage if you want to keep your money in the same place. 

[Azimuth]

2 hours ago, baileynme said:

I'll take this opportunity to plug Navy Federal Credit Union. I'm biased as I have family that worked their but most of their rates are competitive with USAA. When it comes time to take out a new loan I just go with whichever one has the best deal at the time.

Penfed has great rates as well, however you have to do ALL the leg work when doing an auto loan whereas USAA makes it super simple with digitally signed forms, etc.

[SurelySerious]

I'll take this opportunity to plug Navy Federal Credit Union. I'm biased as I have family that worked their but most of their rates are competitive with USAA. When it comes time to take out a new loan I just go with whichever one has the best deal at the time.

Penfed has great rates as well, however you have to do ALL the leg work when doing an auto loan whereas USAA makes it super simple with digitally signed forms, etc.

+1 for Penfed auto loans. Wasn't too difficult.

[Herkasaurus]

On March 30, 2016 at 10:29 PM, SurelySerious said:

 

So were you at fault in an accident?

 

 

Not as I understand it. Hit a deer; to my knowledge that's a not-fault, which was reinforced by my conversations with several other insurance companies who questioned why it was at fault.

This is gonna sound dumber than shit, but I know a SMSgt who talked to the USAA rep after hitting a deer. She told him that it's all about the wording. If "you hit a deer" it's your fault. If "the deer hit you" then it's not your fault. I called shenanigans, but he's not the type to make that sorta thing up. 

[xaarman]

Thought I'd bump for some bad life events but good USAA story:

 

Some jackwagons used my USAA Debit Mastercard number in Houston. It seems they tested it on a vending a machine, and after that went through, went on a $500 spending spree at Sams Club. 

 

USAA called me (didn't answer strange 800 number) and texted me, listed my last 5 purchases, and when I responded with No, they had me call their Fraud line. Wait on hold was less than 5 seconds, and after short confirmation, shut off the card, is mailing me a new one ("7-10 days") and the Fraud claim + total reimbursement should be completed in 1-2 days. So, pretty happy with that, at least. 

 

Edited April 20, 2016 by xaarman

[Homestar]

I've always been impressed with how quick USAA figures out that I didn't spend $400 at Zappos.com, or buy a new iPhone at the Sprint store in Albuquerque.

[reticulous]

State by state, as far as deer. I still remember the legal wording from my accident in CT 15 years ago: "in cases where only one driver is at involved, that driver is assumed to be at least 50% at fault."

 Now in my case, I hit a stationary object, so that definition seemed pretty charitable.

[guineapigfury]

1 hour ago, xaarman said:

Thought I'd bump for some bad life events but good USAA story:

 

Some jackwagons used my USAA Debit Mastercard number in Houston. It seems they tested it on a vending a machine, and after that went through, went on a $500 spending spree at Sams Club. 

 

USAA called me (didn't answer strange 800 number) and texted me, listed my last 5 purchases, and when I responded with No, they had me call their Fraud line. Wait on hold was less than 5 seconds, and after short confirmation, shut off the card, is mailing me a new one ("7-10 days") and the Fraud claim + total reimbursement should be completed in 1-2 days. So, pretty happy with that, at least. 

 

I had a similar experience.  Someone got my debit card info while I was in CA, probably from a card skimmer at a gas station.  In the 2 days it took me to drive back to SD, they spent $3000.  I called USAA, went line by line through the transactions and had the money back within 48 hours.