I have been using Geico for the last 7 years for car insurance only. I passed the age of 25 not that long ago and work for the government and have had no accidents or tickets so I am getting crazy good rates with them. I think I also get a rate for being a long-time member. I recently opened an account with USAA and got a quote for car insurance that is $400 more per year than Geico. I am paying $1400 now with Geico and USAA wants $1800 for the same thing. However USAA gives "rebates" at the end of the year to all customers who have insurance since we are sort of like shareholders of the company. I dont have experience with them so I dont know if I would get anywhere near the $400 back or just a small portion of it.
I like to minimize the things I have to deal with as much as possible, and since I am using USAA for deposit@home online check cashing, one possible way to reduce headaches would be to get rid of geico and use USAA for car insurance. I'll probably get some of that $400 difference back each year, and after a few years of being a member, will likely get "long-member" discount status.
The downside to this is that USAA does not give renter insurance policies in Florida anymore. Geico does, and I imagine if I keep my insurance relationship at Geico, I get better rates on that. I do not currently have renter's insurance since I would rather save the $120/year and take on the risk since I do have enough money to cover replacing my things. However if I buy a condo, it will be required as part of the mortgage.
My possibilities are stick with Geico or drop them and begin to establish my insurance relationship with USAA. I am going to make a few assumptions here, so feel free to quote whichever you want to reply to:
1) USAA will cover my claim better than Geico because USAA is run for its members whereas Geico is run for itself. Geico is a highly rated and good company but USAA is better.
2) The initial $400 spread between insurances will decrease after the annual 'rebate' check and will decrease further over time. Also if USAA is more likely to pay my claims, then its worth more money. Cheaper insurance that doesnt pay out isnt better.
3) I believe there is some sort of long-time customer appreciation loyalty discount and I am sticking with Geico primarily to not ruin my 7 year relationship with them. Then again if I start one with USAA it may be better in the long run if I move to a state that they do provide homeowner/renter insurance to (which is all other 49 states)
My primary reason for ending my relationship with Geico is to reduce the paperwork and complexity of my financial life. I 'need' USAA but I dont need Geico. Theres no reason I cant have both but cheaper insurance isnt always better.
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posted: Jan. 11, 2009 @ 7:46p
smackfu
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2009 @ 8:10p
Little known fact, if you are a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, you get an additional discount on Geico.
I think most members of this forum could convince themselves they own BRK.B, at least through some mutual fund.
firefigher161
New Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2009 @ 8:18p
so does many credit unions, the Brk.b discount is no better than the credit union discount.
firefigher161
New Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2009 @ 8:19p
so does many credit unions, the Brk.b discount is no better than the credit union discount.
srturner47
Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2009 @ 8:19p
If you live in California or Oregon, I'd check out Wawanesa. They have the best rates hands down and they have a good reputation for paying claims (they only accept good drivers though). IMHO, it really shouldn't be any more complex to have insurance with a different company unless you need an umbrella policy, which might complicate things.
If you don't live in California or Oregon, I'd stick with the cheaper insurance. Just my 2 cents!
I am currently in this same position. A while ago I removed myself from my parent's insurance, and went to go get quotes on my own. Due to the timing of a ticket I had, which cost me my license for 6 months, and the way USAA adjusts your payments, USAA wanted somewhere around 800 bucks for 6 months of coverage, whereas Geico was around 600. I have a pretty lengthy history with USAA, but 400 bucks per year was still a decent chunk of change.
Now that my tickets are past the 3 year mark, I went to go get a quote from USAA again before I renewed with Geico. The USAA quote did drop to close to what my Geico rate was, but my Geico rate dropped about a hundred bucks as well, so for the time being, I am staying with Geico. I'm not sure on the end of the year "rebate" portion, since I didn't pay when I was lumped in with my parents. Next time I talk to them, I will ask and see if they got anything like that.
I did some searching, and found some results tripleB. It seems that the rebate is payed back into the subscriber savings account (SSA). Unfortunate part is, only Officers / NCOs with more than 4 years of service, their surviving widows, and USAA employees of 5 or more years are eligible for a SSA. Some more info here
kenblakely
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jan. 11, 2009 @ 8:34p
FWIW, I have personal experience with the claims process of both companies: USAA and GEICO. I am 45 years old and have been driving for 29 years. I have never - not a single time, EVER - had an issue with USAA, whether it was setting up coverage or making a claim. They always process me quickly and pay out promptly.
GEICO, on the other hand, was difficult to work with and (more importantly), when I had to make a claim thru them they put me thru a nutroller and tried to lowball me at every move. I had to resort to legal action at one point to get them to pay me a fair market value for a car that got totaled.
If lower prices in the short run are your priority, you should prolly go with GEICO, and that will be fine as long as nothing goes wrong and you don't need to make a claim. If the day ever comes that something wierd happens or you have to make a claim tho, Hear me now and understand me later: USAA is the way to go, in all cases, every time.
kenblakely said: If lower prices in the short run are your priority, you should prolly go with GEICO, and that will be fine as long as nothing goes wrong and you don't need to make a claim. If the day ever comes that something wierd happens or you have to make a claim tho, Hear me now and understand me later: USAA is the way to go, in all cases, every time.
Lower prices are not my priority. In fact I am paying for 100k/300k coverage instead of my state required $50k for liability.
Its funny the prices that the above poster mentioned are mine exactly. $600 per 6 months for geico and $800 for 6 months from USAA. Maybe I should consider USAA and dropping down to legal min of $50k. I drive like an asshole though - even though my driving record doesnt show it
Oh and BTW - I did ask about the BRK.B discount and they said it didnt apply in my state (florida) and that even if it did, I already had the highest discount possible for being a safe driver, over 25 and government employee.
tripleB said: I do not currently have renter's insurance since I would rather save the $120/year and take on the risk since I do have enough money to cover replacing my things. However if I buy a condo, it will be required as part of the mortgage.Only you would get renters insurance after buying a condo.
Glitch99 said: tripleB said: I do not currently have renter's insurance since I would rather save the $120/year and take on the risk since I do have enough money to cover replacing my things. However if I buy a condo, it will be required as part of the mortgage.Only you would get renters insurance after buying a condo.
Condo Association Fees include external "home owners" insurance built in. You supplement this with a much cheaper renters insurance policy for the interior items. In the state of Florida this is a difference of about 50x.
barefool
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jan. 11, 2009 @ 10:32p
The dividend that USAA pays at the end of the year will be nowhere near $400. You should think along the lines of $20. The policies (what is actually covered) should be either identical, or have minimal differences. USAA's claims service is probably slightly better than GEICO. But it's not $400/year better. The renewal discount you get from GEICO will probably be about the same as the transfer discount that USAA will give you to switch carriers. The GEICO discount may be a few percent more, but it's probably not significant.
I always shop insurance primarily by price. If your carrier attempts to deny coverage, you can always read your policy to verify what is and is not covered. If your carrier wrongly denies coverage, or pays too little, you can always contact your state regulators to exert pressure in your favor.
I don't know of any paperwork that you would avoid by switching carriers. Any automatic billing or paperless options available from USAA are probably also available from GEICO.
tripleB said: The downside to this is that USAA does not give renter insurance policies in Florida anymore. Geico does, and I imagine if I keep my insurance relationship at Geico, I get better rates on that. I do not currently have renter's insurance since I would rather save the $120/year and take on the risk since I do have enough money to cover replacing my things. However if I buy a condo, it will be required as part of the mortgage.
Geico does not write Renters insurance but rather underwrites it through Travelers insurance. I have renters insurance not for the replacement value of my goods but rather to protect my personal assets in the event of a non-auto related loss to a third-party due to my negligence.
I had GEICO auto insurance for about 35 years. Last September I switched my automobile and homeowners insurance from GEICO to USAA; my wife was a former USAA policy holder. The reason I switched was that Travelers (GEICO's arm for home insurance) more than doubled my rates on my home. I had not had a homeowners claim in many years. I told GEICO/Travelers that I would switch to another company due to the sudden rise in homeowners insurance; they were unmoved & I switched. The cost of insurance by USAA on my cars and house were less than my previous cost from GEICO. More importantly, my daughter had a accident last summer, and my auto insurance premium had not reflected this accident. My cost from USAA was still less than GEICO even though they were aware of the accident.
lampy2k4
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jan. 12, 2009 @ 8:05a
kenblakely said: GEICO, on the other hand, was difficult to work with and (more importantly), when I had to make a claim thru them they put me thru a nutroller and tried to lowball me at every move. I had to resort to legal action at one point to get them to pay me a fair market value for a car that got totaled. I went through a totalled car with GEICO just a few days ago. What they paid out was very fair - they used dealer listings in my area for similar cars for an appraisal. They even included sales tax I would have to pay to purchase another car. I'd say I expected about $1000 less based on what I looked up in KBB.
lampy2k4
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jan. 12, 2009 @ 8:14a
tripleB said: Oh and BTW - I did ask about the BRK.B discount and they said it didnt apply in my state (florida) and that even if it did, I already had the highest discount possible for being a safe driver, over 25 and government employee. My BRKB discount is about 5% and it "stacks" with other discounts such as "multi-car", "5 year good driver", etc. My policy after discounts is about $715; BRK discount is $58.
As someone mentioned, there are other "associate" discounts (various organizations and credit unions) that provide the same 5% discount (and they don't "stack" with BRK shareholder one). One of of application screens there is a very long list you can select from.
IMHO it would be ridiculous to pay an additional $400/yr for reduction of paperwork sake. You deal with it only twice per year anyway, or simply set up autopayments. More importantly, I think you need to ensure that you are comparing apples to apples, and that ALL of the various coverages are identical when comparing both quotes. I would ignore the rebate aspect as that's likely insignificant.
I've also been on USAA's website recently and you can get a quick auto ins quote there, as well as a $30/per 6 month discount by applying online.
bbboricua03
New Member
posted: Jan. 12, 2009 @ 10:02a
Are you sure you're getting all of the applicable discounts from USAA? I'm a 20 yr old female, have had car insc with USAA since I was 16 and first got my license. Over this time I've had many tickets, and even had my license suspended once, and my rate with USAA always stayed lower than any other insc company I got a quote from. Also, last time my policy renewed my monthly payment was literally cut in HALF with some random discounts they assigned like "Good payment history" and such. I love USAA, they won't give you any problems when filing a claim and they really are set out to please the client every time. I would never have car insc with anyone else.
smackfu
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 12, 2009 @ 10:50a
PatrickBateman said: Geico does not write Renters insurance but rather underwrites it through Travelers insurance. I have renters insurance not for the replacement value of my goods but rather to protect my personal assets in the event of a non-auto related loss to a third-party due to my negligence.
True, and this is a BIG problem, even if Geico says it's a minor thing. Why? They don't give a multi-policy discount. When I had car and renter's insurance through Allstate, they gave me 10% off of each policy for having multiple policies.
Fail - option c (Amica) would be the correct answer
zski1
Member
posted: Jan. 12, 2009 @ 6:55p
Here's what I would also consider:
* How exactly are you eligible for USAA? If it is as a military member, you're probably eligible to apply for coverage with United Services Automobile Association (the parent "organization") and only members of this group get policies that result in payments being made into a Subscriber Account (they dropped the word "Savings" from the title to decrease confusion - finally!) If this is what you are eligible for, your Subscribe account allocations & distributions will be small for at least the first few years. Money is allocated to your subscriber account based on the previous balance of the account and the amount of premiums you've paid over the last year. This can be quite sizable...as a member for around 10 yrs with an auto policy and 2 property policies, I think my allocation last year was probably two or three hundred dollars. HOWEVER.....money is only distributed to you when USAA doesn't think they'll need it for reserves; this year I think they paid out about 2% of the balance. The only way you can get to the remainder is to cancel all your policies and not reinstate them for at least 6 months. Either that or die. Neither method seems very convenient.
Once you've been a member for quite some time (I think it's 40 years), they start paying your regular distribution plus 10% of the balance. This could eventually be a decent chunk of $$, but if you are strictly looking at that $400 annual difference, I doubt very much that you would get back enough money to justify the cost.
* if you're 'only' eligible to purchase policies from them but not be a 'member' of the above organization, you may get dividends at the end of the year, but they probably won't be anywhere near $400.
* I take it you're not a member of the military...if you were, you'd be eligible for a property policy in Florida. They WILL write a renter's or homeowner's policy to those people on active duty stationed in Florida. Double check this if applicable.
* As suggested in a prior post, make sure you are getting a quote that reflects every discount that you might be eligible for. Did you get your quote online or did you get it from an agent? Making sure that you are getting all the proper discounts might require that you actually call and talk to a person, which will also give you the opportunity to tell them that you are paying $400 less per year with GEICO. Not sure how much of a bargaining chip that will be, but it could help you out. FYI, my current auto policy page on USAA.com looks something like this:
Total premium prior to savings: $850 Total policy savings and discounts: $475 Premium after savings and discounts: $375
"Savings" listed as: "Multiple USAA Products — Home, Fire, Bank, Investments; Military Service; Auto Insurance Loyalty; Good Payment History" Discounts listed as: Anti lock brakes, anti theft, Daytime Running Lights, Vehicle Experience, Passive Restraint, Premier Driver, New Vehicle
While I really like USAA, at $400 more per year I'm not sure it's worth the switch, since GEICO seems pretty reputable. If you've tried everything above, maybe stick with GEICO....
bbboricua03 said: Are you sure you're getting all of the applicable discounts from USAA? I'm a 20 yr old female, have had car insc with USAA since I was 16 and first got my license. Over this time I've had many tickets, and even had my license suspended once, and my rate with USAA always stayed lower than any other insc company I got a quote from. Also, last time my policy renewed my monthly payment was literally cut in HALF with some random discounts they assigned like "Good payment history" and such. I love USAA, they won't give you any problems when filing a claim and they really are set out to please the client every time. I would never have car insc with anyone else.
I am basically in the same situation... I've been with USAA since I was 16 and they have always beat prices by a significant margin when comparing the same policies with the others...
UncaMikey
Happy Member
posted: Mar. 7, 2009 @ 8:22a
zski1 said: Once you've been a member for quite some time (I think it's 40 years), they start paying your regular distribution plus 10% of the balance. This could eventually be a decent chunk of $$...
Yes, it's 40 years. Last year was my 40th with USAA, and I got the extra distribution a couple weeks ago. It is sizeable, several times the regular SSA distribution, and it means that my insurance is now almost free.
zski1 said: FYI, my current auto policy page on USAA.com looks something like this:
Total premium prior to savings: $850 Total policy savings and discounts: $475 Premium after savings and discounts: $375
"Savings" listed as: "Multiple USAA Products — Home, Fire, Bank, Investments; Military Service; Auto Insurance Loyalty; Good Payment History" Discounts listed as: Anti lock brakes, anti theft, Daytime Running Lights, Vehicle Experience, Passive Restraint, Premier Driver, New Vehicle
Geez I hope that is a 6-mo premium and/or one car...here is how USAA stacks up for use in NJ (two boring sedans, two drivers w/ perfect driving record)
Total annual premium prior to savings: $3083 Total annual policy savings and discounts: $1597 Annual Premium after savings and discounts: $1486
Few years back when we were stationed in Boston (...another state with pseudo-communist insurance practices...), I remember getting a Progressive quote that was in the $200-$300 range less than USAA...to me, it wasn't worth switching, as the USAA customer service and claims handling truly is phenominal enough to be worth an extra 20-bucks/month for peace of mind...
tripleB said: I passed the age of 25 not that long ago and work for the government
Nooooo... this can't be! Wait, please tell me you meant local government.
infecto
Member
posted: May. 11, 2009 @ 6:08a
poncedelabank said: Amica appears to now allow payment by credit.
Thats a good thing it translates into lower rates. That or having them charge for people to pay with credit is good.
Zaos
Shopaholic Member
posted: May. 11, 2009 @ 3:34p
What kind of car are you guys driving that would warrant a $1.3k biannual payment? I pay way less than that; and no that's not the price for the bare minimum.
Zaos said: What kind of car are you guys driving that would warrant a $1.3k biannual payment? I pay way less than that; and no that's not the price for the bare minimum.
I don't see any posts with that sort of bi-annual (6 mo) payment. If you're refering to mine, that's just under $1.5K ANNUAL payment...on a '98 Camry and '99 Malibu...(with zero accidents or tickets...it's disgusting...)
Part of it (approx $200) is carrying $1M+ liability to protect assets (since this state is so lawsuit happy)...
Part of it is just that New Jerseys SUCKS...and the percentage of uninsured motorists is INSANE here...which just feeds a downward cycle of ever-higher rates & ever-more uninsured drivers...
(For comparison, those same two cars in Maine would run me $550/yr... )
About every survey by Consumer Reports places USAA and Amica at the top for customer service, including claims handling. GEICO has ranked much lower -- much lower.
OP spent more time writing his first post and reading this thread, than the yearly time savings of him using USAA over Geico for auto insurance. Of course it's not worth paying $400 a year more. I could go into his flawed assumptions in getting to his question, but it doesn't matter the answer is the same. I want my 3 minutes back from reading this thread.
Its funny that this thread got bumped back after 2 months because just 2 days ago I was attempting to compare rates again because I decided to drop collision and comprehensive.
USAA - $900/year for $100k/$300k Liability only policy Geico - $500/year for the same policy
I called USAA and they said maybe it's because I have been with Geico so long that they are giving me such a great rate, as USAA is only going by my FICO score to calculate my rate.
I have been with Geico for around 7 or 8 years I think and ZERO claims of any kind and ZERO traffic tickets.
poncedelabank
Member
posted: May. 23, 2009 @ 9:12a
infecto said: poncedelabank said: Amica appears to now allow payment by credit.
Thats a good thing it translates into lower rates. That or having them charge for people to pay with credit is good.
I'm not sure what you mean. For me, it just means that my car insurance is now 2% cheaper, as I pay with my Schwab Visa.
WalStMonky
Happy Member
posted: May. 23, 2009 @ 9:59a
I did some searching, and found some results tripleB. It seems that the rebate is payed back into the subscriber savings account (SSA). Unfortunate part is, only Officers / NCOs with more than 4 years of service, their surviving widows, and USAA employees of 5 or more years are eligible for a SSA.
Unless they've changed the rules this year it just doesn't work that way. I'm not any of the above and get my rebates every year. They used to mail a check, now it gets direct deposited into the account of my choice. I chose West Bank Iowa this year.
WalStMonky
Happy Member
posted: May. 23, 2009 @ 10:02a
One nice thing about USAA is they will bill you monthly, and automatically charge the credit card or bank account of your choice for the premium. They may be the only insurance company in existence that doesn't add a premium for this service.
Skipping 20 Messages...
zski1
Member
posted: Sep. 18, 2009 @ 10:51a
scottybweyy said: barefool said: TempName09 said: Can non-military members get USAA insurance products?Children of USAA members may join. But otherwise, you must be military.
My father is retired navy and he signed up for an account just so I could. I was told that I could not purchase auto insurance unless my father did (I'm 24...out of the house...etc). My father was quoted a little higher than Geico and doesn't feel like going through any hoops to switch so he just has savings/checking with them now. USAA wouldn't even give me a quote without a military member linked to my account having auto insurance. Has anyone ever had this problem issue? If so, were you able to convince them to let you purchase auto insurance?
Your father has to buy any kind of property & casualty insurance policy. It could even be a "renters" (i.e. personal property) policy which is not a lot per month. Once you join, then he could cancel whenever he wants and you'd still be eligible. If I were him I'd switch everything from Geico but to each his own.
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