My car was hit from the side by an SUV. After getting advice from this subReddit, I opted to allow USAA to use a Toyota collision shop in their STAR network to do an inspection vs. going with a non-STAR collision center/appraiser (I still can pay for this out of pocket if needed). The consensus of this subreddit was that USAA collision centers are decent and wouldn't try to skip out on repairs just to keep estimate under the 70% threshold for totaling a vehicle (that was my concern as the car was hit near the hybrid traction battery and I believe it should be replaced) The STAR-network shop contacted me individually and is demanding me to sign full work authorization forms and power of attorney before doing an inspection/estimate. In my state, I am legally entitled to an itemized estimate before authorizing any repair work. I'm okay authorizing an initial inspection but I do not want to give full repair authorization AND assign them power of attorney before reviewing and approving

We were rear ended by an uninsured driver. Had to file with our provider which is USAA. Today we got the repair estimate and the car is being deemed a total loss. All it needs is a new rear bumper and an exhaust. Repairs after our deductible are $700ish. Looks like the payment to us is $280. We're freaking out a bit. His car is older. It's a 2010 Foed Escape with 150k miles. We knew it wouldn't be worth much but $280? After searching around in our area, they are going for around $3k. Is there anyway for us to keep it and fix it ourselves? My husband is a mechanic and can get all this fixed for less than $700 easily is there anyway to do this without getting a salvaged title? If not, what are our options with insurance coverage moving forward? We cannot afford to buy another car right now.

I was in an accident recently and i signaled and looked behind me and merged rightward into a middle/center lane. As I did so someone came flying up from behind me and I believe they very likely merged leftward into the same center lane, and I struck their aft portion of their car. Like their quarter panel and rear door (it was a four door car). I hit with the front of my car. like my right-side turn signal and bumper cover hit their left-side rear door and quarter panel. Not much damage to either vehicle but certainly much more to the other motorist's car. They will probably need a new doorskin and new quarter panel or at least serious bodywork to repair the damaged panels. Anyway, my insurance coverage does not include collision or comprehensive. Which is fine. I prefer it that way. I thought it should've been mixed fault or not my fault at all but in one week my insurance USAA has found me liable. There were no other witnesses, no passengers in either vehicle, and no camera footage. I forgot to take photos of either vehicle and so did the other motorist as far as I know. We only took photos of each others' insurance cards. They said due to the location of the damage on both vehicles (i never sent them a photo of either vehicle so other than my words and the cop's words they don't know where the damage is on my vehicle) and due to the police report, they are making this decision. I called the police department to get the report and not only do they want 10$, but they said the only way my insurance company could have the report is if they solicited to lexisnexis via snail mail. If that is true, then I suspect there is little that in ~6 business days they got the report. I was unsure what happened and the old lady who hit me/I hit was very adamant it was not her fault, which I guess is what I should mimic in the future, even though anyone with half a brain knows that in many accidents, eyewitness testimony is unreliable. I did not admit fault at the scene or to anyone I have a career where my driving record is important and I really don't want my insurance to go up. The adjustor is being noncommunicative. Please help

My policy just renewed this month, my overall policy went from $2300 to over $2800. I had an accident back in 2023, very minor rear end tap. (I was at fault) the other party didn’t bring litigation against me until 2 months before the statute of limitations went up this year in april. My insurance company did pay out the settlement, and I was told I did not have a surcharge from this incident, and that if my insurance was to go up from this accident it would have happened in 2023 when the accident occurred. My insurance company (USAA) informed me of a state-wide increase being put into effect and that this increase on this renewal was only a portion of the overall increase. I’m just very confused, and unsure how it would increase that much if it wasn’t from this prior accident, and my driving record outside of it is totally clean. Been with this ins company for 6 years now, and I don’t want to switch as i’ve enjoyed it thus far but feel like I have to now that i’m being priced out of it. anyone in massachusetts have any insights?

Hi, I was at a red light this morning and a big truck behind me slammed the gas before the car in front of me started moving. They sped up driving by me right after pulled over. Total asshole. The police report is complete and there was a camera at the light and a witness called in. However, turns out the tag on the vehicle was out of date…I have never been in an accident before. I have usaa insurance and have a claim open but was curious what happens in this situation. Do I end up paying everything out of pocket? I was not at fault so it really sucks.

I got rear ended (hit and run) but it resulted in me hitting someone else. The guy I hit has a tiny scratch on his car and there’s deep crack mine that’s barely noticeable. The guy didn’t seem to care, he was fine, and seemed like he was in a hurry to get out of there before the police arrived. I got his license plate and he got my insurance information but I forgot to get his. Since there’s like barely any damage and no one got hurt do you think he’ll report it? I’m worried because I have USAA but it’s the bare minimum and when checking my insurance policy, I realized I put that I own my vehicle but it’s actually leased. I still owe a few thousand on it. I want to be honest with my insurance but I am so worried about the resulting possibly financial burden. I live in VA if that matters.

Hey y’all, my truck got hit in the parking lot of my work a couple of weeks ago and there was some damage near the drivers rear wheel. The lady who hit me left a note with her information so I submitted a claim through her insurance company. They asked me to get an estimate from one of three shops and then after they would pay. I requested to cash out as I’m planning on painting my truck myself within the next month or two. The shop returns with an estimate of about $2,300. After about a week I receive payment of $1,700… I asked why there was that high of a discrepancy and the adjuster said: “The cost difference between the estimates is due to the first one being written without regard for insurance rates. We can only pay out on the official insurance estimate.” My question is, why did they have me go get an estimate in the first place. I had to take a half an hour’s drive each way just to get to the shop. Not to mention the time I spent there waiting to be helped. I’m just frustrated because it seems like that was an active waste of my time. If they already had their own “official insurance estimate”, why did they have me go drive 2-3 towns over to get a meaningless one from a shop!

Sorry everyone this is a long one and I don’t have a good way to TLDR it. Just for a quick note, I have USAA for auto insurance and my vehicle is a 2017 Corvette Z06 in 3LZ trim, Z07 package, and 52k miles. I own the car outright and it is titled/registered in NH. So a little while ago I was driving in heavy rain, hydroplaned, lost control, hit another car in a few places not too hard, and slid into the median. The cosmetic damage is pretty bad. A few body panels and aerodynamic parts of the car were damaged and will need to be completely replaced, as you can’t repair fiberglass/carbon fiber. I estimated myself that the cosmetic damage alone would cost $25-$30k (take that for what it is, I’m not expert lol). I had a chance to look under the car and nothing looked terrible - only thing of concern was a rear wheel that was canted slightly outwards. I towed it to a shop and they’ve found no frame damage; they’re saying it’s completely repairable. USAA got an adjuster to do an estimate on the repairs and it came out to almost $32k without having taken apart the vehicle. Their estimate also included a substantial amount of work being done on the rear suspension, if needed, which is probably the only mechanical part of the car which would’ve been damaged. Their Actual Cash Value (ACV) for the car came out to be almost $61k at the time, and since the repairs were estimated to be over 50% of the ACV, they deemed it a total loss immediately. But I knew that ACV was wrong, because no low ballers, I know what I got. In all seriousness, their report included the methodology for calculating the ACV - they compare my car to two similar cars for sale in the area. However they made a mistake and compared my car to two base model Corvettes which, brand new, went for anywhere from $30k-$45k cheaper at MSRP. They also left out very valuable features my car had as OEM equipment like the carbon ceramic brakes which go for about $16k brand new. Obviously I know I’m not getting full value for these things, I’m just saying they certainly add value. Anyway, they admitted their mistake in comparing my car to two non-comparable vehicles and redid the calculation. The new ACV is almost $87k now. Now, I know a lot of you if not all of you will say take the money and run, but this is a dream car for me - it’s spec’d perfectly and I’ve done a lot of work on this car all by myself, so it has a lot of meaning for me. I could take the owner retainment settlement option and receive $48k, repair the car myself, and pocket extra money (because I know these repairs wouldn’t cost more than $48k), but they would issue a salvage title, and I couldn’t do that because I’d still want full coverage on the car. But even with this new (and correct) ACV, USAA refuses to not call this car a total loss. Repairs would have to exceed $43k to be over 50% ACV and, by their own definition, be a total loss. Additionally, in the state of NH, generally when a vehicle is involved in a collision the damages need to exceed 75% of the ACV to be deemed a total loss. This is what USAA has recently sent me as I’m still fighting them to get the repairs done, “I can understand your point, however there was no mistake in deeming the vehicle a total loss at start, you were interested in more value in the settlement. The fact that the added value was reviewed doesn't remove it from a total loss stance. We still report it to the State as a total loss, the features and conditions that were modified as a courtesy increased the value here.” So my question is, can they do this? Still deem it a total loss even though from the start their calculation of the ACV was incorrect? I disagreed the car was a total loss from the very beginning, I wasn’t looking to get more money from the settlement, I just wanted to ACV to be correct. I’m not even looking to pocket any money from this, I just want my car fixed.

I was a USAA member for 18 years, 15 of which with a good driving record. For a 11 of those years I served in the US Army, with 10 combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. I was awarded the Bronze Star, among other honors. I was discharged honorably. After the military about three years ago I was going through traumatic personal issues and often drove distracted. During a 12 month period I was in a series of low impact auto accidents. Two of them were just backing into somebody’s fender in a parking lot. However 6 months after the last accident the computer at USAA determined I was too high risk and without providing any kind of appeal process sent me an automated letter informing me they would no longer cover me. I called and I was informed that there was no appeal process for the computers decision. The computer didn’t request my military record, nor consider my driving record for 15 years prior to that, and the humans at USAA would only listen to a computer that doesn’t understand nor care about context or give credit for military service. I was informed that there was no human being capable of overriding the computer’s decision at any level of the company. I’ve tried every major insurance company, and all of the minor ones that I can find, and they all use the same computer algorithm. I was never impaired. I didn’t hurt anybody. I’m not required to be on an SR 22. I have a valid drivers license. .. and I cannot get auto insurance. Recently, I did find two places that would insure me, .. for $2000 a month.. I have been unable to work for close to a year. Soon, I will lose my house. Does anybody know of any insurance company where human beings are still allowed to make their own determination? Is there any way to get commercial auto insurance through an LLC that doesn’t require my driving record? Is there any way to challenge my driving record, or have it improved? Or anything that I can do to convince the computer, or any person I could talk to at the state level or in the private sector that might be able to help me? I’ve tried everything I can think of. I don’t know where else to go. Thank you in advance 🙏🏻

My spouse has a pretty poor driving record, we filed two claims last year on our insurance (USSA) and we just filed one today all of which he is at fault for. Last insurance claim we had was on December and it was a total loss. He also has a speeding ticket that he had to go to court for along. Our insurance bill is already $620 per month for two cars. My driving record is spotless, no speeding tickets or any tickets as well. We live in VA. I have a 2019 ford fusion and my 6 month premium is 1584. He has a 2019 Nissan rogue and his 6 month premium is 2241. We’re also both in our early 20’s. Would be be possible for him to have his own car insurance and would it be cheaper for the both of us? Right now his car is under my insurance and he’s also an insured driver under me. I also just installed a dash cam to his car a month ago for his protection but it seems like it’s the other drivers on the road that needs protection from him. I’ve already pleaded and begged with him to drive safer and drive defensively.