AAA Insurance Review 2019: Home & Car - Bankrate.com

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The American Automobile Association formed in 1902, when fewer than 25,000 cars occupied American roads. Throughout its history, AAA has worked tirelessly to improve safety, producing driver textbooks and advocating for pedestrian protection.

In 1915, AAA introduced its first roadside assistance program, which consisted of five St. Louis, Missouri, motorcyclists who changed tires and performed minor engine repairs on Sundays. By the year 2000, the company’s Emergency Road Service had expanded to include 100 call centers, which received nearly 29 million requests for assistance.

Today, motorists rely on AAA for much more than tire changes and towing. AAA offers a full line of car and homeowners insurance products, with discount programs for AAA auto club members. If you are in the market for car or home insurance, it is worth a call to get a AAA insurance quote.

AAA car insurance coverage options and discounts

AAA Insurance offers drivers a wide variety of auto coverages, including:

• Bodily injury liability insurance to pay for funeral expenses, loss of income and medical expenses of other people if you are at fault in an accident. Bodily injury liability coverage only pays the expenses of other motorists, pedestrians and passengers and does not cover the insured.
• Property damage liability coverage to pay for the repair or replacement of another driver’s car or other types of property when you are at fault for an accident.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to pay the medical expenses of you and your passengers if you sustain injuries in an accident caused by a driver who has no insurance or insufficient coverage. Many states require drivers to carry uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance.
• Medical payment coverage to pay the hospital and medical costs of you and your passengers if you are involved in an accident. Medical payment insurance can cover costs regardless of who is at fault for an accident.
• Collision coverage to pay for the repair or replacement of your vehicle, regardless of who is at fault for an accident. If you finance your car, your lender likely will require you to carry collision insurance.
• Comprehensive insurance to pay for repairs to or replacement of your vehicle if someone steals it or it sustains damage not caused by a collision. For instance, if hail breaks your windshield, comprehensive insurance can pay to replace it.
• Personal injury protection coverage to pay the costs of essential services, funeral expenses, lost income and medical expenses of you and your family following an accident. PIP insurance pays regardless of who causes an accident. AAA does not offer PIP insurance in all states.
• Rental reimbursement coverage to pay for a rental car while yours is in the shop following an accident.
• New car added coverage to cover the depreciation value when replacing a totaled car following an accident.

Insurance premiums can take a bite out of your wallet. AAA offers several discounts, which vary by state, to help you reduce your rates.

• New AAA policyholders can receive an advanced shopping discount if they purchase a policy more than seven days before the coverage begins. AAA offers the advanced shopping discount on vehicles previously covered by another policy for at least six continuous months.
• AAA’s auto insurance loyalty discount rewards customers for consistently renewing their policies.
• When you choose AAA for your homeowners insurance, you could receive a companion home discount on your car insurance.
• When kids go away to boarding school or college and leave the car behind, they may qualify for a distant student discount. The discount applies to students ages 15 to 25 and can offer significant savings for the policy owner.
• Full-time college and high school students who maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA may qualify for AAA’s good student discount.
• AAA auto club members may qualify for a membership discount. In some states, AAA membership entitles policyholders to special rates, rather than a discount.
• Club members who maintain their memberships for several years may qualify for a membership loyalty discount on their auto insurance.
• When you insure more than one vehicle with AAA, you may qualify for a multi-car discount.
• Paying your full car insurance premium with one payment could earn you a paid-in-full discount.
• Young drivers who complete a qualified driving course before their 19^th birthday may qualify for a Teen Smart discount.
• AAA customers who bundle multiple car policies and their homeowners coverage may qualify for reduced rates.

AAA home insurance coverage and discounts

AAA’s homeowners insurance policies can cover the costs of repairing or replacing your home if it sustains damage caused by a storm or fire. AAA also offers additional coverages to provide added protection for your home and its contents.

• Other structures policies add protection to detached structures on your property, which could include fences, garages, sheds or swimming pools.
• With a personal property policy, you can protect your home’s contents such as appliances and furniture. You may also choose to increase the liability of a personal protection policy to cover high-value items such as fine art, jewelry or expensive musical instruments, like your grand piano.
• A loss-of-use policy can help offset the cost of hotel expenses or a rental home if your house becomes uninhabitable following a covered loss.
• Personal liability can help pay the medical or property damage costs of someone else if a calamity occurs on your property. For example, if someone sustains and injury and smashes a cell phone after slipping and falling on your patio, your personal liability policy can pay for medical costs and replacement of the phone.
• Adding a medical payments policy to your homeowners insurance can cover the medical costs of other people when you are at fault for their injuries. For instance, if your lawn mower throws a rock that injures your neighbor, your medical payments policy can cover the medical expenses.

As with its auto insurance policies, AAA offers homeowners insurance customers several ways to reduce their premium rates.

• AAA auto club members might qualify for a 5% discount on a homeowners policy and customers with multiple policies can save up to 25%.
• Homeowners policyholders can earn a discount if they have a companion auto policy and save more money when they consistently renew their home policy.
• Senior citizens may qualify for a mature policyholder discount on their homeowners premium.
• Homeowners who take out a new loan to buy a house may qualify for a discount on AAA home insurance.
• If you pay your entire homeowners premium in one payment, you may earn a discount.
• When you replace your roof, you may qualify for a discount on your homeowners insurance, and if you do not file a claim for several years, you may qualify for a further premium reduction.

AAA ratings, reviews, customer satisfaction and complaints

Each year, J.D. Power and Associates conducts a survey of auto insurance companies. Using a 5-star rating system, it ranks insurance providers in six categories, including billing process and policy information, claims handling, customer interaction, overall satisfaction, policy offerings and pricing. In its 2019 U.S. Auto Insurance Study, J.D. Power ranked AAA Insurance the third best car insurance company in the California region, with a 5-star rating for claims handling and 4-star ratings for all other categories.

The Better Business Bureau gives AAA Insurance an A+ rating. The BBB rates companies based on:

• The number of BBB complaints customers file against a company.
• A company’s size.
• How a business responds to a complaint.
• The length of time a business takes to resolve a complaint.
• The effort a company makes to satisfy a customer complaint in good faith.
• Whether a business falls into a pattern of complaints.

Complaints filed with the BBB against AAA Insurance by homeowners and auto insurance customers include lower than expected AAA Insurance claims payments, billing problems and administration errors. Most complaints filed with the BBB reflect the types of issues policyholders have with most insurance companies. The amount of BBB complaints filed against AAA Insurance can vary by region.

Reasons why AAA is a great option

Typically, car owners do not choose AAA auto insurance for its rates. Rate comparisons conducted by The Zebra, an independent organization that researches the insurance industry, conclude that AAA charges more for car insurance than many of its competitors do. For instance, in a comparison of AAA Insurance with Geico, AAA policyholders with very poor credit pay an average annual premium of $6,569, while Geico customers pay $2,051. Geico policyholders with a DUI on their driving records pay an average annual premium of around $2,550 and AAA customers pay more than $5,500. Geico also beats AAA’s pricing in all age groups. On average, AAA policyholders in their 20s pay more than $4,600 in annual car insurance premiums, while Geico customers pay less than $1,450.

AAA car insurance shines brightest when coupled with a AAA auto club membership. Club membership provides three levels of benefits, all of which include no-cost towing, fuel delivery, locksmith service, battery installation, member-only discounts, identity-theft monitoring and many more perks, depending on the level of membership you choose.

AAA auto club members may also choose AAA to take advantage of loyalty and bundling discounts available for car and home insurance policies.

Additional policies offered by AAA

AAA Insurance offers much more than car and home coverage. Additional types of policies include:

• Term life, universal life and whole life insurance
• Condo and renters insurance
• Earthquake and flood insurance
• Motorcycle insurance
• Insurance coverage in Mexico for people who travel there in their cars

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to get a quote from AAA?

To provide a AAA insurance quote, an agent will need to know information about your driving record, your age, your location, the type of car you want to insure and the number of miles you drive each year.

How do I file a claim with AAA?

You can file AAA insurance claims by submitting a call-back request on the AAA website or by calling AAA Insurance customer service at the nationwide call center.

Do AAA auto club members receive a discount on AAA auto insurance?

Some AAA club members receive a 5% discount on auto insurance, along with loyalty discounts when they consistently renew their policies.

Does AAA Insurance offer life insurance?

AAA Insurance offers term life, universal life and whole life insurance policies.

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