American Family vs. USAA: Best Auto Insurance for 2024
When comparing insurers like American Family vs. USAA, you should analyze pricing, discounts, and company ratings. USAA offers the best rates out of all of their competitors. USAA also offers more discounts than American Family. Finally, American Family and USAA are comparably reviewed by A.M. Best and the Better Business Bureau.
- USAA offers the best prices of all its competitors
- USAA offers far more discounts than American Family
- American Family and USAA are comparably reviewed by A.M. Best and the Better Business Bureau
If you’re here with us today you must be looking for your next insurer. This can be a complicated process so today we’re going to be focusing only on American Family vs. USAA.
If you’d like to learn more about American Family Insurance’s rates and discounts, read our American Family review. Keep in mind, it won’t have information on American Family Care considering that is a separate urgent care facility.
So, USAA vs. American Family: Which company is best in 2021? Let’s find out together. First, though, get a start on your insurer comparison by typing your ZIP code into our free and helpful tool above.
American Family vs. USAA: Which is cheaper?
When you start off comparing insurers, you probably want to start with what is most important, right? Let’s take a look at a table that shows the average annual auto insurance premiums not only for American Family and USAA but for all of the main insurers.
| Company | Average Annual Rates |
|---|---|
| USAA | $2,539.87 |
| Geico | $3,213.97 |
| State Farm | $3,269.80 |
| American Family | $3,544.37 |
| Nationwide | $3,449.80 |
| Progressive | $4,018.46 |
| Farmers | $4,166.22 |
| Travelers | $4,462.02 |
| Allstate | $4,896.81 |
| Liberty Mutual | $6,058.57 |
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As you can see, of the 10 companies shown, American Family is cheaper than five of its competitors. These are Progressive, Farmers, Travelers, Allstate, and Liberty Mutual.
So, it’s towards the middle of the line. How did USAA do? It turns out that USAA is cheaper than all of its main competitors. In fact, the next cheapest, Geico, is almost $700 more expensive.
It’s safe to say USAA wins in terms of pricing. Let’s move on to see how they did in terms of discounts.
American Family vs. USAA: Which has better discounts?
If you learn anything from us, let it be how important discounts are when trying to decrease your premiums. Auto insurers offer a ton of them so when you’re assigned an insurance representative, ask away.
Let’s take a look at a table that will show a vast amount of discounts available from these insurers.
| Discounts | American Family Discount Amount | USAA Discount Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Adaptive Cruise Control and/or Headlights | - | - |
| Anti-lock Brakes | - | - |
| Anti-Theft | - | - |
| Claim Free | - | 12%; "Premier Driver Discount" 4%-12%, depending on driving record; 12% is for being accident and violation free for five years; one safe driver/claim free discount applies. Not available in HI. |
| Continuous Coverage | - | - |
| Daytime Running Lights | - | - |
| Defensive Driver | 10% | 3% |
| Distant Student | - | - |
| Driver's Ed | - | 3% |
| Driving Device/App | 40% | 5% |
| Early Signing | - | 12% |
| Electronic Stability Control | - | - |
| Emergency Deployment | - | - |
| Engaged Couple | - | - |
| Family Legacy | - | 10% |
| Family Plan | - | - |
| Farm Vehicle | - | - |
| Fast 5 | - | - |
| Federal Employee | - | - |
| Forward Collision Warning | - | - |
| Full Payment | - | - |
| Further Education | - | - |
| Garaging/Storing | - | 90% |
| Good Credit | - | |
| Good Student | - | 3% |
| Green Vehicle | - | - |
| Homeowner | - | - |
| Lane Departure Warning | - | - |
| Low Mileage | - | - |
| Loyalty | - | - |
| Married | - | - |
| Membership/Group | - | - |
| Military | - | - |
| Military Garaging | - | 15% |
| Multiple Drivers | - | - |
| Multiple Policies | - | - |
| Multiple Vehicles | - | - |
| New Address | - | - |
| New Customer/New Plan | - | - |
| New Graduate | - | - |
| Newer Vehicle | - | 12% |
| Newly Licensed | - | - |
| Newlyweds | - | - |
| Occasional Operator | - | Discount based on operator's individual driving record. |
| Occupation | - | - |
| On Time Payments | - | - |
| Online Shopper | - | - |
| Paperless Documents | - | - |
| Paperless/Auto Billing | - | 3% |
| Passive Restraint | 30% | - |
| Recent Retiree | - | - |
| Renter | - | - |
| Roadside Assistance | - | - |
| Safe Driver | - | 12% |
| Seat Belt Use | - | - |
| Senior Driver | - | - |
| Stable Residence | - | - |
| Students and Alumni | - | - |
| Switching Provider | - | - |
| Utility Vehicle | - | - |
| Vehicle Recovery | - | - |
| VIN Etching | - | - |
| Young Driver | - | $75 |
As you can see, of the 63 listed discounts, American Family offers only three. USAA did much better with 14 offered discounts. What’s even better is that a lot of these discounts are as simple as typing in your USAA login on the app.
Be sure to read our USAA insurance review to learn more about all this company has to offer. Let’s now wrap up with company reviews for USAA Insurance and American Family.
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American Family vs. USAA: Which is more well-reviewed?
One last thing to look out for is company ratings bestowed by A.M. Best and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). These ratings can help reassure a consumer that a life insurance company is and will be financially strong.
The Better Business Bureau’s rating scale goes up to A+. As of this time, American Family has the next rating below, an A, and is not currently BBB accredited. USAA has the next rating down, an A-, and is not Better Business Bureau accredited.
A.M. Best has a rating scale that goes from the upper end of A++ down to the lowest rating of D. American Family has the third-highest rating of A. USAA, however, has the best rating possible of A++.
A.M. Best also has what is called Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR). Whereas their Financial Strength Ratings are about an insurer’s financial strength as well as its ability to meet ongoing policy and contractual obligations, a Long-Term ICR is focused on the future. A Long-Term ICR can be issued on a long-term basis or short-term basis.
This scale goes from the high end of “aaa” (Exceptional) down to the low end of “c”. It’s a little confusing, so the scale goes like this: “aaa”, “aa”, “a”, “bbb”, “bb”, “b”, “ccc”, “cc”, “c”. A company can also score notches in their ratings, i.e. “aa+”.
American Family score an A.M. Best Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a+”. How did USAA do in terms of Long-Term ICR? They received the best possible rating of “aaa”.
So, American Family is more well-reviewed by the BBB while USAA is more well-reviewed by A.M. Best. All in all, you have two great options here.
Don’t let your insurer comparison stop here with American Family vs. USAA. Type your ZIP code into our free and helpful tool below to find affordable auto insurance quotes in your area.