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San Antonio-based USAA serves 14 million customers through its insurance and financial products.<\/p>\n
USAA<\/p>\n
The percentage of home insurance claims closed without payment by USAA<\/a> increased again last year, mirroring a years-long trend for the San Antonio company and other big insurers.<\/p>\n About 51% of all claims to United Services Automobile Association and three affiliate insurers were unpaid in 2025\u00a0\u2014 one of the highest rates among U.S. insurers\u00a0\u2014 according to annual reports filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n USAA\u2019s four insurance companies\u00a0\u2014 United Services Automobile Association, USAA Casualty Insurance Co., USAA General Indemnity and Garrison Property and Casualty Insurance Co. \u2014 have a \u201cC+\u201d rating from Weiss Ratings<\/a>, a Florida-based insurance company rating agency. The service\u2019s ratings are generally based on an insurer\u2019s financial strength and risk profile, not on whether customers like the company.<\/p>\n A \u201cC+\u201d\u00a0rating<\/a> is considered fair, \u201cbut during an economic downturn or other financial pressures,\u201d Weiss suggests \u201cit may encounter difficulties in maintaining its financial stability.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0USAA companies\u2019 current rating is a drop from their \u201cB-\u201d rating last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Denials have been an ongoing issue for the companies, and the data show the rate of nonpayment has been inching up for years. In 2010, the rejection rate was less than 38% for three of the four USAA companies. A decade ago, from 46% to 47.4% of the four companies\u2019 claims were unpaid.<\/p>\n MORE INSURANCE NEWS:\u00a0Home insurance rates in San Antonio-New Braunfels lower than most Texas metros. Here\u2019s why.<\/a><\/p>\n In a statement, USAA said the association\u2019s data\u00a0is misleading because it lacks context about why a claim may be closed without payment. Those factors could include claims that were later reopened, claims covered under separate policies or multiple claims\u00a0from a single event that are consolidated into one case.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhen all factors are included, less than 6% of USAA homeowner claims were denied without payment,\u201d USAA said. \u201cMost claims closed without payment involve losses below a member\u2019s deductible or claims the homeowner chooses not to pursue.\u201d<\/p>\n The company issued a similar statement in early 2025, when the association\u2019s data showed the\u00a0USAA companies had closed nearly 50% of claims without payment in 2023.<\/p>\n The data suggest the percentage of unpaid claims is increasing among the nation\u2019s largest insurers, and that the trend has accelerated in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There are multiple possible reasons. Insurers are trying to control expenses stemming from more frequent and severe natural disasters. That may lead companies to crack down on claims, increase deductibles on risks such as hurricanes and hail, and raise rates. Then, as rates jump, some homeowners have shifted to policies with higher deductibles to keep rates lower, increasing the number of claims that fall below their deductible.<\/p>\n Climate change has played a role, leading to damage not covered by standard homeowners insurance policies<\/a>. Flooding, in particular, has become a major source of concern and confusion for many homeowners. Claims for roof replacements due to hail or other storm damage also have stricter criteria.<\/p>\n \u2018Very concerning\u2019<\/p>\n Ware Wendell, executive director of\u00a0Texas Watch<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that advocates for insurance policyholders, called increased nonpayment\u00a0across the industry \u201cvery concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re paying more and more for less and less coverage, and then fewer and fewer claims are being paid at all,\u201d he said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t working for consumers, but it\u2019s working really well for for-profit, private insurance companies.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The more claims insurance companies deny, Wendell said, the more premium revenue they are able to retain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make big reforms,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t keep going like this. People can\u2019t suffer those losses.\u201d<\/p>\n Weiss Ratings<\/a>, a Florida-based insurance company rating agency, said its calculations based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners data\u00a0show that since 2012, three of USAA\u2019s four companies\u00a0\u2014 USAA Casualty,\u00a0USAA General Indemnity and Garrison Property and Casualty\u00a0\u2014 have reported the exact same rate of closed claims without payment even as their numbers of claims differ.<\/p>\n Gavin Magor, research director for Weiss, said the near-perfect alignment for so many years \u201cis extremely difficult to attribute to coincidence or standard shared services.\u201d Rather, it suggests\u00a0USAA could be applying \u201ccentralized top-down targets or uniform algorithms.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n RELATED: USAA insurance companies\u2019 denial rate on homeowners claims under scrutiny<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEven with shared infrastructure, each entity serves distinct risk pools, uses different policy forms in many cases, and operates under varying state regulatory environments,\u201d Magor said. \u201cSimply having different volumes of insured exposure should produce meaningful variation in key percentages.\u201d<\/p>\n The insurance companies\u2019 loss ratios, or the share of premium dollars an insurer uses to cover claims, also were essentially the same from 2021 through 2025. That compounds concerns that the filings may not be genuine reflections of individual company experience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very curious that the exact same numbers show up across any number of USAA companies and groups, and I think that it definitely bears investigation by the Texas Department of Insurance<\/a>,\u201d Wendell said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Insurers are regulated at the state level rather than by the federal government. The Texas Department of Insurance\u2019s financial analysts review each filing from Texas companies and verify them through financial exams, underwriting filings and complaint data. The state agency declined to comment on data related to\u00a0USAA. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect companies to settle claims according to the requirements of the policy and the law,\u201d an agency spokesperson said. \u201cConsumers can file complaints with TDI if they\u2019re unhappy with how a claim was handled or paid. If we see a pattern of issues with a company, we can refer the issue to our Enforcement Division for possible disciplinary action and sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n State law changes<\/p>\n It\u2019s become more difficult for Texas consumers to fight insurers\u2019 decisions to close a claim without payment.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u00a0In 2017, the state passed the \u201cBlue Tarp Bill\u201d (House Bill 1774<\/a>), which tightened rules on how insurers handle property damage claims, especially claims for roof damage after storms. The nickname comes from homeowners left with blue tarps on damaged roofs while claims are delayed, underpaid or denied.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are now all these hurdles for homeowners to clear when they have a weather-related claim,\u201d Wendell said.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0USAA says it had strong 2025, but report to members drops key data<\/a><\/p>\n As climate change increases the incidence and severity of natural disasters, insurance companies\u2019 rates of claim rejections are drawing closer scrutiny from outside the regulatory structure.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n