HANDLING USAA ACCIDENT CLAIMS
USAA AUTO ACCIDENT CLAIMS
This page will give you our expert scouting report on how to handle auto accident claims with USAA (United Services Automobile Association) in Maryland. Nationally, USAA has a comparatively small share of the auto insurance market. But USAA has a significant presence in central Maryland. This is because USAA writes insurance for service members and their families.
Notwithstanding USAA’s association with the military and patriotism, the company can be just as unreasonable and financially driven as any other insurance company. Dealing with USAA on accident claims is no different than dealing with GEICO or any other insurance company.
USAA Claims Processing
USAA handles all of its national claims processing out of its corporate headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. All of its claims adjusters are centrally located here and they seem to have certain adjusters assigned to handle claims in specific states or regions. So when you deal with a USAA adjuster, its likely someone in the San Antonio claims office that is part of the Maryland claims team.
USAA uses a popular software program called Colossus to come up with valuations for claims and make settlement offers. The claims adjuster simply enters certain information about the claim into the software. This includes things like the plaintiff’s injuries and medical treatment records. The Colossus program then analyzes this data and comes up with a valuation for the claim. The Colossus software is notorious for consistently undervaluing claims and this is certainly true for USAA.
USAA Claims Process Scouting Report
Inconsistent Offers
Even though USAA utilizes Colossus to value claims, settlement offers tend to vary significantly based on what adjuster you have. In fact, there seems to be very little consistency in the type of settlement offer you can expect in. This suggests that USAA claims adjusters have the ability to ignore Colossus and exercise their own discretion.
Drags Out Litigation
Immediately after suit is filed, USAA often makes a much bigger settlement offer in the hopes of avoiding litigation. If that settlement offer is rejected, USAA tends to commit fully to litigating the case. USAA will drag out the litigation. Don’t expect another offer until at least the pre-trial conference (and possibly not even then).
Lawsuit Sensitive
All insurance companies tend to increase their settlement offers after a lawsuit gets filed. However, USAA tends to do this more drastically than others. Immediately after suit is filed, USAA will often make a dramatically increased offer in the hopes of settling without litigation and before incurring expenses on defense counsel.
Stubborn Defendant
If effort to settle a case without spending money on litigation fail, USAA has a tendency to become a very stubborn defendant. They will continue to aggressively defend cases even when it seems completely pointless to do so.
USAA Settlements & Verdicts
YEAR / STATE
CASE / INJURY SUMMARY
RESULT
2019 – Maryland
Rear end accident. Plaintiff suffered thoracic outlet syndrome, multiple soft-tissue disc injuries, and headaches. USAA refused to settle and took case to trial.
$28,000 – Verdict
2019 – Maryland
T-bone accident at intersection after failure to stop. Plaintiffs claimed various soft-tissue injuries. USAA disputed the injuries and refused to settle.
$45,000 – Verdict
2018 – Maryland
Pedestrian accident. Plaintiff claimed injured thumb joint and underwent fusion surgery. USAA denied his UIM claim and case went to trial.
$30,000 – Verdict