Recently I was unfortunately victimized by a careless driver (on his cell phone) who backed into he side of my Jaguar XJ8L. To add insult to injuy, I am now trying to get my car fixed, and my insurance company, USAA, who has previously always had a great record for customer service has really dropped the ball on this one. They assigned an adjuster who believes that all cars are created equal, and that the car should be fixed at the same low labor rate as say a Hyundai Sonata or a Ford Focus. Unfortunatly, the body shop, which is a certified Jaguar shop believes otherwise since the labor figure that USAA is allowing is below what their employees cost them. USAA's alternative to my having to reach into my own pocket to fund their shortfall (well beyond the deductable) is to take it to one of their adjusters "recommended" shops (a national chain) that will accept their low rate based on the volume of work USAA is throwing them, but unfortunatly IMHO does mediocre work.

What infuriates me about this whole thing is that the premium I pay for collision on this car is DOUBLE what it would be in a car like the Sonata or Focus, ostensably, to cover the higher anticipated repair costs. When questioned why the high premiums but low payouts nobody within USAA can explain why in a logical way, they just give me a lot of double talk. This indicates to me that they can't defend the indefensable. I have found that just about everyone I speak to there recently doesn't know how to be part of a solution, only part of the problem.

This is a complete reversal from all my previous treatment from USAA. I am a 39 year member and have never before seen USAA take a stance where the individual customer no longer counts. It appears that the accountants and bobbleheads have taken over.

The real problem with this whole episode is that like a lot of others here I have ALL my coverages with USAA and now I can't trust that they will be there for me when there is a loss. It kinda makes it hard to sleep as well as I once did.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar experience.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CommanderJR,

I am sure you have your situation handled by now but I have all my financal stuff through USAA. I was in a car accident also where I was rearended while I was stopped to make a left turn. When I called up USAA I told them everything including the other drivers info. They handled i well and let me take it to a authorized dealer for my car. I have a toyota and they sent it to the toyota body shop.