USAA Insurance Claims

I have been with USAA since I got my license, and I always though they were top notch... until I had a total loss on a vehicle. USAA uses a company called CCC to value the vehicle... a company that has settled more than 20 class action suits due to lowballing!! They offered my $1000 less than the lowest comparable vehicle, saying my car wasn't "dealer ready". Right, because that means I can replace it for less. I am currently shopping to transfer my car, home, and credit cards elsewhere, and I am telling everybody I know. My only option to appeal is to pay more than the $1000 i could even get-- so it's not worth it and they know that, and laugh all the way to the bank.

I PCS'd to Germany and switched my insurance to USAA. Being from warmer climates in the states I was not accustomed to driving in Germany's harsh winter weather. I had a fender bender but my car was not drive able due to the bumper being smashed onto my tire. USAA was helpful in getting my car towed as well as providing the rental car. Little did I know it would take over two months for my car to be repaired.
USAA only pays for the rental car for up to 2,000 euro...yes this is a reasonable amount until my rental car expenses went pass this amount. Since my car is an American made car the car repair shop said it took so long for the parts to come in by mail. The repair shop told the estimated date for my car to be completed. I paid for my rental for an additional week. Checking back with the repair shop on the expected completion date they told me that one of the parts was not the right part and they had to order another one and that my car would take another week. I was pissed. USAA said they could not authorize another rental car for me.

As a customer I feel that if you raise my insurance rate because I am in another country you should be aware that as the insurance company you should take care of rental fees as long as it takes for my car is repaired. The repair shop is under USAA'a contract and they should get repairs done in a timely matter. If they order the wrong parts they are at fault. NOT ME the customer.

When I get back to the states I am switching to another provider.

While living in Chicago, Il, the apartment above mine caught fire. Many items (everything in the kitchen, basically) were destroyed. USAA didn't even send an adjuster, they simply confirmed that a fire occurred and that there was significant damage, then let me file with no problems. The night after the fire, with the building boarded up and vacant, it was broken into and many items were stolen. The claim I filed (while still requiring a separate deductible, sadly) went smoothly and the customer service person even did some significant "rounding" to compensate for sentimental value and the cost of the second deductible. To call my experience positive is an understatement. In a time of need, these folks came through for us in leaps and bounds. The only possible issue, and it's a minor one, is that it seemed to take a long time to receive the settlement. That said, the length was still well below average, apparently.

USAA treats their customers like common criminals, I filed 2 legitimate claims with them, and they have been "investigating" me for 2 weeks. The 2nd claim, I actually withdrew, because I could not handle the stress anymore. My husband is deployed, and when he is gone I have anxiety attacks, and any kind of stressor makes it 100 times, worse. I have asked, and asked when this is going to be resolved, and cannot get a straight answer. I am tired of the run-around, and level of disrespect I have encountered. I have now withdrawn my insurance and banking with them, unfortunately I have an existing car loan that we cannot pay off right now, but as soon as we can...I will NEVER trust them again.They are crooks, who lie, cheat, and mislead their customers. RUN away from this "military friendly" company....

After an accident I took my car to the shop to be repaired. The shop called a rental car agency to pick me up. I had never been in an accident, but was told my policy would cover a rental car. After renting the car my adjust was very rude to me on the phone and demanded that I return the rental car and go to another agency. He was the rudest person on the phone and made it seem like I had no choices and was at fault for getting a car from the wrong company.

Come to find out that what he did may be illegal - and that I had a choice to choose what rental company. I didn't care, but if my own insurance company will only pay for one from a specific company then I had no choice. I spent all morning working out the logistics dealing with two cars. All I wanted was something to drive! Furthermore, I listened in to the conversations the rental person had with the insurance people and it was beyond rude!!! I am cancelling my policy after this. USAA is not here to back me and in fact employs people dead set against customer service. This minor accident is a nightmare!!!!

In 2006, my daughter was on my car insurance when she endured a rear-end collision by someone who had limited insurance coverage. My policy included a $300,000 per accident/$100,000 per person coverage. My daughter ended up with a broken ankle and severe back pain which turned out to be herniated discs. The physicians recommended physical therapy, Cortison back injections, or possible surgery if the before mentioned did not work. My daughter has been seeing a physician and has been on pain medications since the accident and continues to be in severe pain. She has been paying out of pocket for physician care and medication. Our lawyer sent a request for settlement and USAA counter offered $20,000. This would not even cover the costs already incurred, such as emergency room visit, ambulance service, continual physician visits and medication. People but car insurance to protect them from expenses related to a car accident. However, it is difficult to get the money whenever it is needed. What is the purpose of having car insurance when companies get away with withholding funds?

The rates are great and it is cheap but the service was also cheap. You might just chalk me up to a disgruntled employee but I left the company myself. This place is disgusting. They pay great benefits for the right to treat everyone like scum, and their members... that’s worse because they are the ones bringing in the money to the company and them they treat the worst.

I have seen them make exceptions for 40 year members who lie and try to commit fraud by giving them a slap on the wrist or allow payment on a claim they had no coverage for because they have 200k in investments through the bank... this is wrong. COMPLETELY WRONG. On the other hand, they have denied claims or used bad credit in investigating fraud and denied claims when that was the only indicator that popped up. I'm glad I left, I couldn't hardly sleep at night and wished that some car would hit me on the way to work just so that I wouldn't have to go.

I have to admit just because you're a 30 year member you might not get the "special treatment" that 30 year members get who have 200k or 300k in the bank. Its not the years of loyalty that count with USAA but the cash you have. Believe it or not, this is EVERYDAY. I have a brother in law in policy services also who states when the members with lots of money invested in the USAA bank complained about their rates and threatened to leave... USAA actually lowered them back and apologized. Keep this in mind. If you threatened and they don't budge... either you don't have enough money in the bank or you're not worth the royal treatment USAA provides to their high stakes investors.

1. USAA IS THE MOST VILE AND REPUGNANT COMPANY I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED.
2. UNTIL 5 YEARS AGO I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH USAA.
3. NOW THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS LESS THAN POOR. CALL AN INDIVIDUAL AND YOU WILL GET A FULL VOICE MAIL BOX. WHEN YOU DO TALK TO A CLAIMS REP, THEY ARE CONDESCENDING AND ABRUPT.
4. EVEN THE AUTOMATED TALKING COMPUTER IS RUDE, SLOW, AND GLITCHY.
5. AVOID USAA.

I must admit, I am shocked at the negative comments of USAA. I've been with them for years, filed auto and home claims with them and it went very well. BEST customer service I have ever experienced. Just this month was so frustrated with Navy Federal Credit Union that I moved my savings, checking and mortgage to them. Next car loan will be with them as well. Also moving my Ameritrade to them. I don't work for them, don't have family that does. I am just very impressed with them and always have been.

My husband and I have had auto, home owners and renters insurance with USAA for years. We had a pipe burst in our basement (our main storage area), it ruinied almost everything being stored down there, there was mold everywhere. I called USAA to let them know and they started the claims process. I've never filed a claim of any kind in my life. The process was never explained to us, we were required to list each and every item by brand, age and so on. We are a family of 6 and every season I store next seasons clothes, holiday decor, jackets, snow boots, kids bikes that they had out back. It's a walk out basement with a garage door. My parents are wealthy and love spoiling their grandchildren. My kids want for nothing and I grew up being treated the same. When the claim started they asked me for receipts as proof. I gave them the limited receipts I had never once did they tell me bank or credit card statements acted as proof, or manuals and tags. As the claim progressed USAA gave us $9,000 leaving us to pay out of pocket the other $7,000 and they would "pay us back". The turn around time was horrid, our representive was "sick" for weeks on end and noone picked up the slack. Receipts I sent were fine, then all of a sudden they weren't fine and they wanted different receipts for the same items....WTF??? I sent them a nasty email about how I intend to report them to the insurance commission and to the BBB for their practices. How they have caused our family financial hardship (we are a family of 6 active duty E-4 pay with a child in treatment for a brain tumor and another son who is special needs). How I called 6 times and was never allowed to speak to a manager. Well 24hrs after sending this email I recieve a call from "someone" at USAA asking to speak with me in person. I said sure. They never identified their capacity with the company. I call USAA only to find out this guy is an investigator. So this is the game they want to play, try to make me out to be a criminal as retrobution. B.S. I will NEVER EVER deal with them again!!!!!!

I have been a USAA cust for 15 years and never filed a homeowners claim. My wife and I were robbed in Costa Rica and all of our luggage and items stolen. They are trying to deny paying my Tag watch my wife bought me (over seven years ago). She could not find a receipt, but we mailed them pictures and my owners manual which was specific to the watch. I sent it certified mail, but they act like it got "lost" in the mail room. I did take pictures of the manual before I mailed. Make sure you make copies of any evidence you send them!!!!!

They are still trying to deny my claim on the watch - after talking to my wife, myself, sending pics, and the origanal owners manual. Im now having to talk to a lawyer and plan to drop all USAA products. I will also file a BBB complaint. Any other advice on how to handle this is appreciated!!

Thanks,
Greg

I'm shocked at all the negative experiences posted. As I read through these complaints with basic grammatical errors, the "I thought...." sentences, the "They told me..." sentences, and the "They owe me but won't pay me..." sentences, I can't help but wonder why these people don't read what's sent to them from USAA. It's all in there! Once or twice I've been issued a new policy, read it, and found something in there that was wrong. A quick phone call to them always fixed it and I've always had all the insurance I've wanted or needed.

Your piece 'o crap car is not worth what you think it is. And if you modify it or customize it, it may be worth more in your mind, but to every one else, it's a car that's been modified by a back yard mechanic and is now worth less. If it runs and is almost 10 years old or almost has 100,000 miles on it, it's an old piece 'o crap car and it's worth $1K if you're lucky! Accept it!

Insurance companies are in the business to make money. However, USAA is in the business for it's MEMBERS. If you create a history of filing for more in claims than what you pay in premiums, the MEMBERS don't want you any more. Accept this. That's why premiums are cheap. the MEMBERS are held to a little higher standard than the general population.

Been a USAA member 30+ years. In that time, I've filed several claims and been paid in full every time. I've been involved in a few accidents and they've handled everything every time. My premiums are CHEAP compared to all the other insurance companies out there. I can't imagine ever having any type of bad experience listed here. If it happens, well, I'll drop them and get the gecko or something then.

USAA bank doesn't like to lend money. Went to them to buy a house with a credit score of 809 (and a wife's credit score of 810) and they gave me a quote with an interest rate almost twice what I could get at many other banks. So, I didn't use them.

If you don't like them, quit using them!!!!!

A satisfied customer.

USAA' s client caused an accident that did considerable damage to my old, but quite serviceable, truck. Client and USAA have acknowledged liability and both parties agree that the $4000+ damage is more than the truck is worth. The police report is clear about fault. USAA came up with a "Total Loss" valuation of less than $2000 using only 2 suppposed comps that are not local and are not comps (and are certainly not market value). My truck is a 3/4 ton, big block V-8 camper special in good working order, relatively low miles, and good body/paint before the accident. The "comps" used by USAA are a 1/2 ton truck in Michigan (that's the closest they could find a cheap enough value to suit their argument) and a 6 cylinder 3/4 ton truck over 200 miles away. USAA refused to provide actual information so that we could view the supposedly available comps. Meawhile, we have looked for over a month and can find nothing comparable for less than $3200.

USAA representatives have been very rude and antagonistic, daring us to take them to court where "they'll be ready for us", all over a piddling difference of approximately $1200. They know as do we that a court case would be a waste of resources, yet are using their power to bully us into accepting a loss for their clients' negligence. My wife, who originally felt sorry for the 93 year old women who is USAA's client, has been in tears several times over this matter and has been very stressed over the situation for more than 40 days now. It's now 40 days with no truck, and no settlement in sight. USAA refuses to even talk about the valuation.

This is the most reprehensible behavior on the part of a company charged to deal with the public that I have experienced in the last 20 years. Shame on them and shame on the state regulators for letting them continue to operate in this manner. Any Pro-bono lawyers out there looking for a good cause?

USAA Insurance Company is a military endorsed company that service members and their families put their trust in. In early 2008 my home was flooded and USAA sent out an adjustor who partially inspected my home. He told me that the water was coming from "torrential rains, under my property, and into my home through cracks. When I asked about the water stains on the ceiling, he stated it was air conditioning condensation. Mind you, my spouse was on assignment. They paid for the water stains. We looked for cracks in our foundation and could not find any (pulled up carpeting). We had the ceiling fixed.

In 2009, we were hit by a tornado and water inundated our home. For three consecutive weeks we had overwhelming water. On the third week, when it started to rain in our bedroom, I was told by USAA representatives to move all my furniture to places where the water was not, because they would not pay for anything as promised. I was told to go buy plastic from Home Depot and in the middle of a storm and tarp my roof because they stated I had a leaky roof. I wasn't informed of this, the second adjuster stated the roof was old and 37 years old, however, it had material on the roof when we bought it that was not available 37 years ago. I was also told that it was my fault the house was filled with water, because even though it is not in my contract, I should bring a licensed contractor to check my roof twice a year.

USAA representatives then called the company when I protested that my house should be tarped, the representative Marta agreed after much debate, and then told the company not to come to my home and tarp anything. The company later told me that my house is not even worth the time to try to repair, which came from Lindsay Dillon, my claims adjustor, not to bother because they was not going to be paying anything.
My point here is that by the time I finished cooperating with USAA representatives, I had no carpet, ruined furnisher, and a much depreciated home. But the real travesty, is that I was informed my Teresa Raymond, the CEO's personal assistant now, that they knew my roof was leaking back in 2008 and I quote:" it is not our job to tell you how to maintain your home, but to tell you what we will pay for or what we will not pay for. The report is their report and is not released to the homeowner."

This is very curious to me, because I could have fixed the roof and the atrium that they said was the cause. Instead, USAA Insurance Company knew it was foreseeable that if you have a leaky roof and do not inform the homeowner and give them erroneous information where to look for the problem, the water is going to seep from the roof into the insides of the walls of the home and mold will grow. Indeed it grew into 15 toxic black molds, certified by an EPA Specialist who told us to vacate our home.

In essence, my son and I lived in the home and tried to repair the home with the small amount of funds they gave us to repair the fence. We utilized the money and our personal savings only to find mushrooms three inches long with caps growing from behind our wall paper in our foyer. This is when we brought the EPA Specialist out to inspect the home and when he found out the scientific Petri-dish we were inhaling for over 18 months.

We did not know why we were getting sick with respiratory problems, rashes, colds; my hair fell out from down my back to two inches all over. My son and I have had unexplained fevers that went up to 103 degrees. Vomiting, coughing, I went from being an insomniac for 20 years to passing out across my bed and unable to wake up. I have been treated for symptoms for pneumonia, bronchitis more than once, on inhalers, steroids, and all because of mold. My son is only 22 and went into the military like his parents and I am afraid that he might have a very short career due to this mold. He had to be ambulanced to Eisenhower Hospital for a fever of unknown origin of 103 as he has had since exposure to mold and also treated for it in Basic Training. It was the first time since his birth that he stayed overnight in the hospital. His fevers will not go away, and did not in the military.
.Instead of an $11,000 dollar repair in 2008, my repairs will cost between $84,000-$125,000 dollars.

Roadside Assistance is minimum at best. Roadside assistance is viewed as a claim against your auto insurance policy. Only one roadside policy available for a one type fits all. No towing allowed to the closest factory service center. Example, Nearest BMW authorized service center is 65 miles away, the roadside assistance is only responsible for 14 of the 65 miles. The balance is on you at $4.00 per mile. Poor customer service. Too many fast talking customer service experts. Company find ways not to serve and not to pay. Company was founded on service to members. Presently, this is a far understatement.

If you have roadside assistance with USAA . Your calls will be viewed as auto insurance claims against your policy and you should expect a rate hike for the use of a out of gas disablement or battery jump off or lock out. I do not want my auto policy to increase just because I was locked out of my car. Beware or the cheap $2.00 per month coverage, it will cost you dearly in the other pocket.

On April 5, 2004, A USAA "insured" motorist backed into my classic car. She backed into it hard enough to push my stationary vehicle several feet sideways.

USAA had an insurance adjuster look at the car, and claimed it was a total loss. I objected to this, provided USAA demonstration of the value of the vehicle and that this value exceeded the cost of repairs, even at their adjuster's highly inflated rates.

USAA responded to this with a letter stating that their final offer on the vehicle was less than half of the cheap estimate on repairs, and that if I failed to deliver the vehicle and title to them within 14 days, they would start charging me a storage fee, even though I was in possession of the vehicle and not storing it. They stated that my failing to deliver the vehicle to USAA in the allotted time, that I was agreeing to these terms.

It took two calls from my attorney to get USAA to agree to pay repairs or replacement value on the vehicle (repairs were cheaper). USAA then sent a check marked "full and final on all claims" for less than than the agreed amount.

It then took three letters, the final of which was a threat to take their uninsured client to court before a corrected payment was sent.

In all of this, USAA had agreed that the vehicle was not a "total loss." However, after the final check was mailed, USAA did file a "total loss" agains the vehicle with the state. I discovered this in January of 2009.

It took a month of phone calls to USAA to finally get them to agree to correct this "oversight." They said they would send me a copy of the letter they sent to the Montana Department of Motor Vehicles. It took several more calls to USAA to confirm that they had sent the letter, and then it was a fight to get a copy, but I finally did.

I have checked again the the DMV, and have discovered that not only did the DMV never receive the letter from USAA, they have no record of the call USAA supposedly placed to them on February 23.

This issue still has not been resolved, and USAA seems to have no interest in this. This is how USAA demonstrates their "values of service, loyalty, honesty, integrity — and doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do."

We had a house fire back in August 2007. We lost everything and the only clothes we had was the ones we had on the of the fire. We weren't home the morning of the fire. We have gone through a lot in the past couple of years trying to manage on our own after our denial from USAA. It has been a struggle for our three young kids to move from one place to another. We also had barely much clothes to provide to them. Each child had a least 4 outfits, 1 pair of shoes, and a few socks and under wears that we had purchased a couple days after the house fire. Winter was the hardest part for them. We didn’t have the money to buy them winter clothes. We were lucky to have brave kids who managed the winter time. We had USAA for 10 years and were very good clients. We had no reason to start the fire. I had notified Mr. Richards in October and November, about funds for winter clothes. He told me that he would get back with me after he gets the receipts from Bill Brock from the first installment of money had giving in August. Which we gave them the receipts back in September. Couple weeks went by and still no response from him. Mr. Brock told me that he was already finished reviewing the receipts and gave them to Mr. Richards. He said now I had to wait to hear back from Mr. Richards. A couple days after calling Mr. Brock, I decided to call Mr. Richards for days and left messages. I finally got a hold of him and he said that he would see about sending me $1,000. He asked me if that was enough to cover winter clothes for all of us. Because that is all he can do for us right now. I told him that it was fine. He also said that he would have it for me in a couple of days after the meeting with all the adjusters. A couple weeks went by and no money and no call from him. I tried calling Mr. Richards for a couple days and left messages for him to call me. He never returned any of my calls and never answered any of my calls.
A couple months later, we received a letter stating that we were denied. We also started to notice that our kids savings account we had with them, were closed down and they wanted their money back that they gave us after the house fire for hotel, food, clothing, and other expenses for one month. (The money was a payment for food, hotel or housing, and clothes (to start off with) expense after the house fire.) We also noticed that our insurance on the vehicles were canceled too.

**From this day on, we still have no clue in what or where the fire actually started in the house. We have no clue about anything on the house fire. They kept us out of the loop. We would ask, but they never gave us the actually answer. They didn’t even give us any documents on the result of the investigation.

I had provided Mr. Richards all the papers works he requested. I sent a copy to him and to their lawyer. The bad thing I did was that I didn’t pay to have it certified or have a confirmation number for the papers I sent. I know that I filled out everything and provided as all the paper works I had that Mr. Richards needed. My parents knew that I had some struggle dealing with Mr. Richards. They also knew that I did all the paper works after every call I had with Mr. Richards and sent them out the next day. Matthew also sent everything that they sent him to fill out or provide. We have no clue what they didn’t receive and what else they needed. Mr. Richards never contacted us or even stayed in touch with us since the house fire. We’re the only ones calling Mr. Richards all the time. Right from the beginning, a gentleman named Mr. Richards pushed to deny us. I would love to take USAA down for House, Personal Property, and Pain & Suffering.


We were homeless for 6 months living on the streets. The weekend of the fire, we were set for a yard sale and the house was half way packed up in boxes. The month before that, we just bought a $2000 couch set. So, therefore for why would we waste our time going through the hassle of setting the house on fire and going out buying the same thing over again? It was a hassle saving the money and finding everything all over again. Plus why would we going through the labor of setting up stuff for yard sale and packing half our stuff in boxes. USAA stated that we were scared that they wouldn’t pay. But I told them no. Obviously I should have been scared.

We have been with USAA for almost 1 1/2 yrs now, never had problem until now. My husband deployed to Iraq and when talking to sales people about my insurance, I was told that I could get extra insurance on my computers, and it would pay for drops, spills, power surgers and especially if something happened to my husband's while overseas. Since we already had renters insurance and thought this was a good idea. Well lo and behold my son dropped his computer on the floor by accident and made a claim back in May. Now they do not want to pay for it because one of my animals was involved. It was in my son's hands and our cat and dog were chasing each other and my son got caught up in cord and almost tripped and dropped computer. Adjuster came to house, picked up computer and finally brought back from their expert saying that the computer was wiped clean and they wanted to know why, which makes no sense because my son was on it at the time of dropping. The screen was broke from the back so he could not use it at all. Nowhere in my policy does it state that it would take an act of congress to claim my computer. They have no problem taking my money every month from my account but when you really need them they turn their backs on you. Our military has no problem laying down their life so these people have a job, but they cannot simply do as the policy states. Just another way to rip us military off. It's against the law to not have insurance, but it should be against the law to get a hassle everytime we act on something that we are paying for. I am just waiting now to see what the adjuster has to say now that I told her that I wanted all the money back that I was paying for this extra insurance since it is not worth the paper it was written on. They definitely need to be investigated themselves.

IN 03/2009 ON TRIP TO NY WE HAD 2 VERY VALUABLE PERSONAL PROPERTIES DISAPPEAR (LOST/STOLEN). I HAD COVERAGE FOR BOTH ITEMS ON MY INSURANCE. I FILED A CLAIM , AND DID EVERYTHING USAA REQUESTED FROM ME. AFTER PROVIDING ALL THE DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION (PICTURES, ETC) , THEY COMPLETED THE INVESTIGATION AND STILL DID NOT PAY ON THE CLAIM. THEY WANTED US TO PROVIDE RECEIPTS FOR AN ITEM I PURCHASED IN 2002 AND MY HUSBAND FATHERS CHAIN WHICH WAS HANDED DOWN TO HIM AND WAS PURCHASED OVER 30 YEARS AGO (SINCE MY FATHER IN LAW DIED IN 1973). IT WAS NOT SUFFICIENT THAT WE HAD NUMEROUS PICTURES OF ME WEARING THAT ARTICLES. I MIGHT AS WELL NEVER HAD INSURANCE AND NOT BOTHERED FILING A CLAIM. HORRIBLE COMPANY TO DO BUSINESS WITH. AS A RESULT OF THIS I WILL BE TAKING MY BUSINESS ELSEWHERE.

I have been a member with USAA for almost 10 years now. When I bought my first car at 17 my parents put me under their USAA policy. I had it all the way through college and decided to keep it once I had to get my own coverage. I then decided to get my banking/credit card/and savings account with them.

In 2006 my fiance and I decided to purchase a new car. We knew we wanted a Honda and went to the dealership. We tried to get financing through USAA for the car but they denied us. The dealer told us they had a special going on for brand-new, leased vehicles: No money down! We decided to go that route with the option to purchase the vehicle later.

A year later we decided we wanted to purchase the car from Honda. We went back to USAA who had approved us for the loan. The guy told us to let them handle everything as they would negotiate a great deal for us and handle the paperwork. I thought "Great!" So, about a week later, I suppose, we received the paperwork in the mail. We read over it. Not so great. The car was a used and had 10K miles on it already. We were told, in the initial call, that we would purchase it for the used price and that the amount we had already put into in during the lease would apply to the loan. When we read over the paperwork NEITHER of these were in there. I called USAA and told them there was no way we were going to pay the new (and FULL) price for the car. They told me I had no choice, that the negotiations had already taken place. We sucked it up, knowing we were going to have the car for many, many years.

Well, about a month ago my husband was involved in a car accident and totaled the car. The accident was his fault as he fell asleep at the wheel. As soon as I saw the car I knew it was a total loss but I didn't worry about it because I knew we had total loss coverage on the car---or so I thought. I rode with him to the hospital and called the next day to USAA to file the claim. Over the course of the week the appraiser looked at the car and gave his estimation of what he thought the car was valued at. He deemed it a total loss. Again, I wasn't worried. Then, we found out we did not have total loss on the car, as we had thought for the past 3 years, and the value of the car was lower (by 4K) than what we owed. We are now "upside down" on our loan because 1) we were screwed when we purchased the car and 2) total loss was not put on the car even though it was supposed to be built into all loans for FREE when we purchased the car. So, now we have to find a way to pay 4K on top of buying a new car. And, no, the 12 thousand people I have talked to at USAA are NOT helpful.