USAA USAA ,United Services Automobile Association USAA mislead regarding the reasoning of a claim which didn't surface until we switched insurance companies. Tampa Florida

My complaint is in regards to an accident that transpired on 11 Aug 06 under USAA Policy # 1541-35-53. The representative we spoke with after the accident stated that my wife was at fault due to the fact that she still had use of her brakes even though the brake usage had been diminished because of the previous accident that was not completely. The justification was that she may not have had 100% of the use but still had functional use of the vehicle. This did not bother us at the time because USAA did not raise our rates.

After switching from USAA to Progressive we were informed that the at fault accident on 11 Aug 06 would cause us to pay an increased rate. Upon hearing this accident was affecting our premium on the 16 Feb 09 I contacted USAA with the assistance of Progressive via a three way call. The USAA representative informed that the original rep would have to handle contesting their decision. Later that day, the claim rep's manager called me to inform that the fault of the accident was not the brakes because the repair shop inspected them before releasing our vehicle and couldn't find anything wrong. I informed the manager that my wife and I took our SUV to the dealership where the maintenance manager test drove the car with us and stated there most certainly was an issue with the brakes. Koon's Toyota replaced the Master Cylinder and the brake issue was resolved.

The USAA manager then stated that the two instances were not related because of the inspection done by the repair shop and the assessment completed by the insurance adjuster. I informed that the failure of their people to identify a problem doesn't automatically make the issue my wife's fault.

The USAA manager questioned why we waited so long because the incident was now outside their statute of limitations which was two (2) years. I informed that our rates had never increased for this accident until we switched insurance agencies. At this point the manager challenged the fact that our rates never went upwhich they didn't.

The USAA manager started to repeat her argument that the vehicle had been inpected and the original assessment would stand and that USAA could not and would not reverse a decision made over two years ago. I pointed out how USAA had told us that we were originally at fault because we had some use of the brakes when the accident happened even though it was associated the previous incident, then when we called back we were informed that the accident was unrelated to the previous incident with a convoluted explanation that is only valid if the master ABS cylinder went out within two days of our car was released to us.

Upon hearing this the USAA manager said she wasn't going to reverse the decision period. I then informed I would be submitting this complaint and ended our conversation.

USAA mislead regarding the reasoning of a claim which didn't surface until we switched insurance companies and is costing over $500 a year difference in premium.

I was only seeking a letter stating the accident was not at fault meaning my wife wouldn't be held accountable with an increased premium due to the automobile not being repaired correctly. But were instead mislead and then accused to cover the fact that they can no longer make the change. Progressive stated they could make the change up to 35 months back and that every company is different. Do yourself a favor, choose progressive or another insurance company over USAA.

Evolvingmonkey
Herndon, Virginia
U.S.A.