Warning: Never Get Roadside Assistance From Your Insurance Provider (clark.com)
USAA counted roadside assistance as an at-fault claim, which tied us to them until that event dropped off and our scores improved Then after more than 30 years with them, we left for good. They aren’t as nice people as they are made out to be!
That is preposterous. They have steadily done things to alienate me over the years. Usually the result was to take more of my money elsewhere. Now I am off to cancel that coverage.
WOW - is this common practice ? Never had to use them but it felt like a blanket - but maybe not.
I spend more than 2 hours in an inner city location waiting for an Allstate roadside assistance to come and get me for a tow.
Dropped it.
I’ve used USAA roadside service many times, and never had an issue like yours. They’ve always been very prompt, and never treated getting service as an at-fault claim. It might be based upon individual states’ insurance regulations. I know that in Arizona a glass claim (cracked windshield, for example) cannot count against the insured.
Our friend was non-renewed by USAA after a dog bite claim from her hyperactive Jack-Chi. She will bite anyone whom her master hasn’t had her greet before and typically throw temper tantrums. I don’t know if she had another claim. Geico was more than willing to provide her with condo insurance.
I think she has USAA auto insurance still but she may have switched both to Geico.
We have another friend that had to go with Agency Auto because she made too many claims and also had a lapse of insurance. We have paid out of pocket for most damage to our car including two windshields and bumper damage after scraping a fence. We have some more damage to fix for my wife’s car. But paying out $6k in damage is a lot less expensive than four auto claims and two glass claims
We have Geico and because of our “spotless”record are considering Hanover. We might switch the homeowners because $20k of hidden water damage is up to $50k in mold coverage, property dwelling increased from $250k to $300k, and liability increased from $500k to $1M. By the way is it cheaper to have two $500k policies and a $1M umbrella or two $1M policies? Does the umbrella coverage cover certain liability not covered by auto or home? Is a separate umbrella more expensive?
I got an umbrella from Progressive, and my primary homeowners is not with them… but my auto is with them. I had to up the auto liability to $500k, but it was not at all expensive. Most of our risk exposure is from driving… it’s the most dangerous thing we do.
What the hay is a Jack-Chi? Jack Russell + Chihuahua ? OMG…
Yes. Very hyperactive dog. She’s worked very hard on training her dog but she’s great at getting into trouble often. Despite being highly allergic to her, I like babysitting her. One rule - do not let her get on the couch. She will bite you if you try to get her off. You usually have to gently flip the couch to get her off safely. Also don’t put a leash on her unless you have done so previously in front of her master a couple of times.
Thanks. That’s appreciated
Depends on YOUR state. In my current state they can not count as a claim but when I lived in Nevada they could along with windshield claims
Some states do not allow roadside and windshield to count
Yes I agree as dog bites can be expensive. I’m not sure what Geico is charging but I bet it’s expensive. I think it was a single bite claim as a renter that is why she had to go with a lower rated insurance company when she purchased the condo three years ago
In some of the dog bite claims I handle the insured told the agent that the dog was a child loving puppy that never hurt any one.
When I showed up to investigate the claim the insured’s dog tried to kill the adjuster.
Made a good video for the underwriters to review. 
I called USAA sometime back and specifically asked if RA counted as a claim. They said “no”. I have used it several times but to be honest with all the crap I have insured with them I probably wouldn’t notice why a premium went up.
I have max deductible allowed on everything and have never had a claim besides towing or jump start. “Discount” is as much as the premium. Like Clark says, “insurance is for catastrophe only”. But, I found USAA RA to be much cheaper than AAA for RA.
The $150/yr I spend for AAA is peace of mind that it won’t count in the insurance algorithm
I like the 100 mile tow coverage up to 5 times a year
Insurance is required by law on all vehicles. It doesn’t matter what state or what insurance company you use, if you file any claim about anything, your fault or someone else, your rate goes up, period. I was stopped at a stoplight and a driver ran the red light and hit me head on. He was drunk, assigned risk, he eventually got 8 months in jail. His insurance paid for half what my car was booked at. No fault insurance in NY, my insurance company took care of my medical bills and at renewal time dropped me because of the accident. They didn’t care that it was not my fault, just that I was accident prone because someone hit me. Had a hard time finding a new insurance company which charged me twice what I had been paying. I am a retired police officer with 38 years on the job. I can tell you many horror stories about insurance as it relates to car insurance.
Different states have different laws and insurance regulations. This includes required minimum coverage level, how uninsured motorist and no fault are handled, how glass and road service are handled, and probably a lot more details I haven’t thought about.
I recently had a meal with friends; she, like me, is an Arizona resident. Her husband is a Wyoming resident. We were discussing the differences in glass coverage between the two states. In Arizona, glass coverage cannot count as an at fault claim, and is required to be covered. In Wyoming, it is less costly to pony up the cost to pay for the repair out of pocket than to purchase glass coverage. In Arizona, a hit and run (with no ID on the driver) is covered under uninsured/underinsured motor coverage, and may count as at fault. An accident where the other, insured driver, is at fault attaches no blame or fault.
no offense Smartpolitics, but your reply has me very confused. What does any of that have to do with roadside assistance on insurance?
It has to do with being dropped by your insurer including going from renters to home insurance
I tried to drop the AAA roadside assitance for something better, and they warned me they would be cancelling my auto insurance.