USAA vs Geico: Best for Military Auto Insurance [2024]

USAA and Geico are two of the leading auto insurance companies for drivers. However, if you’re military or a veteran, you may wonder which offers the better deal on auto insurance and has the best military auto insurance. Both companies have similar coverages and ratings but differ when looking at USAA vs. Geico for military auto insurance.

Read on to learn about these companies’ ratings, eligibility requirements, average rates, and more, so you can choose the company that better suits your needs.

USAA for Military Auto Insurance

USAA has some great pros, as it offers a good array of coverages and has solid customer reviews and ratings. We’ll review each factor below to see how it compares to Geico auto insurance for military members. You can also read our USAA auto insurance review for a detailed look at the company.

Coverage Options

USAA offers a decent selection of auto insurance coverages for customers, as it has some add-on coverages in addition to the main coverages required by states. The types of auto insurance coverage it offers are as follows:

• Collision coverage
• Comprehensive coverage
• Liability auto insurance coverage
• Medical payments coverage
• Personal injury protection insurance coverage
• Rental reimbursement coverage
• Roadside assistance coverage
• Underinsured motorist coverage
• Uninsured motorist coverage

So what is USAA missing? It doesn’t have rideshare insurance, new car insurance, modified car insurance, Gap insurance, or umbrella insurance. However, it has all the necessary coverages drivers need for a full coverage auto insurance policy, even if it doesn’t have these extra add-ons.

Eligibility Requirements

USAA has eligibility requirements, as it only sells to military members. To purchase USAA insurance, you must meet one of the following criteria:

• Be active duty, guard, or reserve.
• Be an honorably discharged veteran.
• Be a contracted cadet or midshipman.
• Be an officer or warrant officer.

The direct family of anyone mentioned above can qualify for USAA insurance, such as spouses, former spouses, widowers, and children.

Reviews and Ratings

USAA has solid reviews and ratings from the majority of major rating agencies. Take a look at some of USAA’s main ratings below.

• A.M. Best financial rating: A++ (superior)
• Better Business Bureau (BBB): Not rated
• J.D. Power Auto Claims Satisfaction: 890 out of 1,000
• NAIC Complaint Index: 1.9

USAA has a great financial rating and customer satisfaction rating with auto claims. However, it has a higher-than-average number of complaints and hasn’t yet been rated by the BBB.

Geico for Military Auto Insurance

Below, you can see an overview of Geico’s coverages, eligibility, and ratings to give you an idea of what Geico offers customers. This way, you can get a complete picture of Geico before we compare it with USAA.

Coverage Options

Like USAA, Geico offers all the basic auto insurance drivers need to drive legally and a few extra add-on coverages. Take a look at the complete list of Geico’s coverage options below.

• Collision coverage
• Comprehensive coverage
• Liability coverage
• Mechanical breakdown coverage
• Medical payments coverage
• Personal injury protection coverage
• Rental reimbursement coverage
• Roadside assistance coverage
• Underinsured motorist coverage
• Uninsured motorist coverage

Like USAA, Geico also lacks rideshare insurance, gap insurance, umbrella insurance, and modified car insurance. However, it offers all the common auto insurance coverages you’ll need to drive legally in your state and extras like roadside assistance coverage. So you can carry just a bare minimum auto insurance policy or add on specialty coverages that offer additional protection depending on your needs.

Eligibility Requirements

Geico isn’t a military-only insurance company, so any driver can apply for auto insurance at Geico, whether they are civilians or military. Of course, insurance companies can always deny insurance to high-risk drivers they don’t feel comfortable insuring, such as drivers with multiple accidents or DUIs. However, for the most part, most drivers should be able to get Geico insurance, regardless of whether they are military or not.

Read more: Best Auto Insurance for Drivers With a DUI

Reviews and Ratings

Below, you can see some of the major ratings for Geico for finances, customer service, and more. Most of the ratings are fairly similar to USAA’s major ratings.

• A.M. Best financial rating: A++ (Superior)
• Better Business Bureau (BBB): A+
• J.D. Power Auto Claims Satisfaction: 874 out of 1,000
• NAIC Complaint Index: 1.1

On average, Geico has good ratings for most of the factors displayed above, from financial stability to claims satisfaction. However, its complaint index is slightly higher than the average, but this isn’t terrible for such a large company.

USAA and Geico Compared

So how do USAA and Geico compare to each other? Now that we have gone over the basic information about the two auto insurance companies, we want to see how they stack up against each other regarding auto insurance coverages, ratings, and overall price.

Coverages

The two insurance companies are similar in what coverages they offer. They both have all the basic auto insurance coverages and a few extra add-on coverages. However, Geico offers mechanical breakdown insurance, which USAA doesn’t. Mechanical breakdown insurance is essentially an extended warranty on vehicle parts, which can be useful for cars that are prone to breaking down. (For more information, read our “Best Car Warranty Companies“).

However, besides that coverage, both companies offer the same options for car insurance, so there are no significant differences between the two. So regardless of the insurance company you choose, you’ll have the same list of auto insurance coverages that you can purchase for your vehicle.

Reviews and Ratings

According to A.M. Best, both insurance companies ranked the same for financial strength and are in good financial standing. So, both companies can meet ongoing financial obligations like paying out claims, meaning neither is in danger of going bankrupt in the future.

For BBB ratings, USAA is currently not rated, so we can’t compare the two companies in that regard. However, Geico received an A+ rating from the BBB, which is great as the BBB considers customer complaints as a factor when creating ratings. The BBB also looks at business transparency, time in business, government actions, and more when rating a company.

USAA ranked slightly higher than Geico on J.D. Power’s customer claims satisfaction study, suggesting that USAA performs slightly better with claims. On the flip side, USAA had a higher customer complaint index score on the NAIC, so Geico hasn’t had as many complaints as USAA recently.

Overall, both companies ranked similarly, with just a few differences when it comes to customer complaints and claims satisfaction.

Average Rates

One of the biggest factors influencing a driver’s choice in a company is the rates for an auto insurance policy. Since Geico and USAA have fairly similar ratings and coverages, we want to look at what these companies charge on average for car insurance.

Below, you can see how the average rates at Geico and USAA compare for basic auto insurance policies.

USAA and Geico have similar costs, but USAA’s auto insurance rates tend to be slightly cheaper than Geico’s rates for basic coverages. However, car insurance rates also depend on your driving record and age.

Below, you can see how auto insurance rates change between the two companies based on a driver’s age and driving record.

USAA’s rates are cheaper on average for different drivers, but Geico’s rates aren’t that much more expensive. Since these are just rate averages, we recommend getting personalized car insurance quotes from the companies to see which is cheaper, as it can vary depending on the driver and area.

The Final Word on USAA vs. Geico for Military Auto Insurance

Geico and USAA have similar coverages, rankings, and ratings. However, eligibility differs between the companies, as USAA only sells exclusively to military members, veterans, and their families. On the other hand, Geico sells to all non-military and military drivers, although the company may deny coverage to high-risk drivers. USAA also has slightly cheaper average rates than Geico, even if its complaint index rating is slightly higher than Geico’s complaint index.

If you’re torn between the two companies or want to see what other cheap options are out there for military insurance, use our free quote comparison tool. It will help you find the cheapest rate from insurance companies in your area.