To get USAA car insurance, you need to first qualify for USAA membership, which is limited to military service members, veterans with an honorable discharge, and their immediate family. Once you’re a member, you can get a quote and buy a policy online or by phone in minutes. The process has two distinct steps: proving your eligibility, then shopping for your coverage.
Who Qualifies for USAA Membership
USAA is not open to the general public. Eligibility falls into a few specific categories:
- Active-duty military: Members of any branch of the U.S. armed forces, including those in the National Guard and Reserves.
- Precommissioned officers: Cadets and midshipmen at service academies or in ROTC programs.
- Veterans: Former military personnel who received an Honorable or General Under Honorable Conditions discharge. A dishonorable or other-than-honorable discharge makes you ineligible.
- Spouses and children: If a parent or spouse has established USAA membership, you’re likely eligible too. This includes adult children.
- Certain federal employees: Employees of select federal agencies may also qualify, though this is a smaller group.
The family eligibility piece is worth understanding clearly. Membership passes from parent to child, but it does not extend to grandchildren, siblings, or in-laws. If your father was a USAA member, you can join. But if only your grandfather served, you would need your parent to have established their own membership first for you to be eligible.
How to Join USAA
You can start the membership process at usaa.com or by calling USAA directly. The steps are straightforward, but the specifics depend on whether you’re the service member or a family member.
If you’re the military member or veteran, you’ll create an online profile with your name, date of birth, Social Security number, and contact information. USAA will verify your military service, which may involve providing your branch, service dates, and discharge status. Veterans should have their DD-214 (the separation document you received when you left the military) accessible, as it confirms your discharge type and dates of service. Active-duty members can typically be verified through Department of Defense records without needing to upload anything.
If you’re joining as a spouse or child, you’ll go through the same profile creation but will also need to establish your connection to the existing USAA member. You’ll typically need that member’s name and USAA number. In some cases, the existing member may need to confirm the relationship from their own account.
Once USAA verifies your eligibility, your membership is active and you can access all their products, including auto insurance.
Getting Your Auto Insurance Quote
With your membership set up, you can get a car insurance quote online, through the USAA mobile app, or by calling. You’ll need a few pieces of information ready:
- Vehicle details: Year, make, model, and VIN (vehicle identification number, found on your registration or on the driver’s side dashboard).
- Driving history: Any accidents, tickets, or claims from the past several years.
- Current mileage and usage: How many miles you drive annually and whether the car is used for commuting, pleasure, or business.
- Current insurance info: If you’re switching from another insurer, having your current policy details helps ensure there’s no gap in coverage.
USAA lets you customize your coverage levels for liability, collision, comprehensive, and uninsured motorist protection. The quote tool walks you through each coverage type and lets you adjust deductibles to see how they affect your premium. You can bind the policy (make it active) immediately after choosing your coverage, so the whole process from quote to active policy can happen in a single sitting.
Military-Specific Discounts and Benefits
The main reason people seek out USAA is the pricing and the military-tailored features that standard insurers don’t offer.
If you park your car on a military installation, you can save up to 15% on your premium through the on-base parking discount. This reflects the lower theft and vandalism risk of a secured base.
The storage discount is especially valuable for deployments. If you’re deploying overseas or otherwise storing a vehicle you won’t be driving, USAA can reduce your premium by up to 60%. The car must be kept in a secure location and cannot be driven during the storage period. This alone can save hundreds of dollars during a typical deployment.
USAA also offers flexible payment scheduling, letting you align premium payments with your military pay, retirement pay, or disability pay dates at no extra cost. Most commercial insurers lock you into fixed monthly dates, which can create cash flow headaches if your pay schedule doesn’t line up.
For service members stationed abroad, USAA provides international auto insurance coverage, which is something most U.S. insurers simply don’t handle. If you’re assigned to a base in Germany or Japan, USAA can help you get coverage that meets host-country requirements.
What to Do If You’re Not Eligible
If no one in your immediate family has USAA membership, you won’t be able to get their car insurance. There’s no workaround for the eligibility requirement. However, it’s worth checking carefully before giving up. Many people don’t realize a parent quietly maintained a USAA account for years, or that a stepparent’s membership might qualify them.
If you’ve confirmed you’re not eligible, several other insurers offer competitive rates and military discounts. GEICO, Armed Forces Insurance, and some regional carriers provide discounts for active-duty personnel and veterans, though their military-specific features (like deployment storage rates) are typically less comprehensive than what USAA offers.
Switching From Another Insurer
If you already have car insurance elsewhere and want to move to USAA, the transition is simple. Get your USAA quote and bind the new policy with a start date that matches or overlaps your current policy’s cancellation date. Then contact your old insurer to cancel. The key is avoiding any gap in coverage, even for a single day, because a lapse can raise your rates with future insurers and may violate your state’s legal requirements.
If you’ve prepaid premiums with your current insurer, you’ll typically receive a prorated refund for the unused portion after cancellation. USAA’s customer service team can help coordinate timing if you’re unsure about the logistics.