USAA Windshield Replacement Question

chapstic2001 · 01-13-2019, 08:36 AM

Does anyone have USAA experience when claiming a windshield replacement due to a kicked up rock cracking it? Will the claim cause my premiums to go up? Never had to do this process before and I don't want to put a ding on my record.

id10t · 01-13-2019, 08:42 AM

Check state law - here in Florida by law the policy replaces at no cost to you and no raise in rates.

cassisrot · 01-13-2019, 08:43 AM

I've had USAA insurance for 49 years. Nothing but good experience. Never had consequences for claims. They are the best.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Where shall I start? I was with USAA for 30 years and lived in VA for 12 of them. Never had a glass claim in VA and I doubt it's a no-fault incident there. However, it is in AZ and windshield replacement is a near annual thing here. You just get pelted with rocks and debris on the roads. Never had a problem with a claim until Mrs. Lee's BMW X1 had a rock come down on her sunroof on the hwy. Even had a dashcam catch the audio, but couldn't see it.

That claim took over six weeks to settle, they kicked it up to comprehensive, requiring a deductible, never once returned a phone call to me to discuss that and required it all be done at the dealer, making the total $6k. Who's not gonna raise your rates for a $6k claim? I left them over that, got a better deal from Farmer's and the agent is a close friend and former co-worker, so my calls (and texts) get returned.

When I called USAA to cancel, they seemed pretty surprised. I told them to go back and review the emails I had sent in the "secure message center," asking many times for a call back to discuss (my vms to the adjuster went ignore too), then warnings that I was about to leave them. She apologized profusely. Can't say I didn't warn them.

beatnavy · beatnavy's Garage

I went through a fairly painful experience with USAA and their windshield partner, Safelite, recently. I've also had them for 30+ years and went almost all of that time with nary a claim. Recently had a couple of claims that kind of annoyed me. Not ready to dump them, but I'm starting to think they aren't that "special."

My 2017 Acura MDX windshield caught a pebble a few months back. Estimate was over $1700 due to the damn lane departure warning system. My deductible was $500, so I'm on the hook for that no matter what, but part of my beef is: $1700 for a windshield??? I know that's not USAA's fault, but still -- that's like 4% of the purchase price of the whole car, for something that can break again next week.

My biggest beef with USAA is that they make you deal with Safelite and won't let you go to a dealer. Safelite SWORE they could correctly calibrate the lane departure warning system. USAA also refuses to use OEM glass. Well, after the after-market glass was installed, Safelite couldn't get the camera in place correctly or get the thing properly calibrated. Had to make another claim to get authorization for OEM glass. That finally gets installed (I had to bug Safelite several times to order the OEM glass), but they still can't get it calibrated. They basically punted and said "yeah, go to the dealer." Finally did, and, to USAA's (small) credit they did refund me the $300 for that service.

So, in summary, this process cost me $500 deductible. But it also took over a month, about 10 calls to USAA, three trips to a dealer (including an overnight stay, three trips to Safelite, etc. Remember when a windshield used to cost about $100 and they'd do it in your driveway?

I'm no luddite, but there's too much technology in these cars now...

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I think it's state-dependent. When I've filed glass claims in AZ, USAA always emphasized that I could have it repaired wherever I wanted. But I didn't care. The one or two times Safelite did my 993, it came out fine, ditto for the other cars. But glass claims in AZ are not allowed to count as comprehensive claims, which is what they did to Mrs. Lee's X1. They used some third party place in MI to handle this claim and, because it was above $1500 or whatever, they had to hand it off to the dealer, which said they had to replace the whole cassette with an insane labor charge. Later on I found a used cassette for something like $500 and I'm sure I could have found someone to install it for another $1000 max. But USAA never suggested that or returned my calls to discuss a more reasonable option. Eff them.

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

They replaced my windshield under comprehensive. It did not count against my insurance. Rates did not change.