Does USAA Car Insurance Cover Other Drivers?

USAA is one of the leading insurance providers for military members, veterans, and their families. But a common question is whether USAA’s auto insurance will cover other drivers who aren’t eligible members themselves.

The short answer is yes – USAA auto policies extend coverage to certain other drivers of your vehicles beyond just named policyholders. However, the specifics depend on your selected coverages and policy limits.

This article will explain exactly how USAA’s car insurance covers other drivers so you can understand who is protected and how.

Overview of USAA Auto Insurance

USAA provides a full range of auto insurance products tailored for military personnel:

• Liability insurance – Bodily injury and property damage liability
• Collision – Covers damage to your vehicle from an accident
• Comprehensive – Covers non-collision damage such as theft, vandalism, weather, animals
• Uninsured motorist – Covers injuries to you from an uninsured driver
• Underinsured motorist – Covers gaps between your coverage and at-fault driver’s coverage
• Medical payments – Covers medical bills for you/passengers from an accident
• Personal injury protection – No-fault medical coverage in some states
• Roadside assistance – Towing, lockout service, fuel delivery, etc.

USAA is consistently rated highly for customer satisfaction and claims handling. But eligibility is limited to active/former military members and direct family.

So can these policies extend to cover other drivers who don’t meet membership requirements?

Liability Coverage for Permissive Drivers

With standard USAA liability auto insurance, other drivers have coverage under two scenarios:

1. Named excluded drivers

USAA allows you to specifically name drivers who are excluded from your policy. This means they are not covered for their own vehicles, but are covered under your liability insurance when driving one of your cars.

So if your 23 year old son is excluded from your USAA policy, he’d need to buy his own policy. But if he borrows your car and gets in an accident, the damages and injuries would be paid by your USAA liability coverage.

2. Permissive use

USAA policies automatically extend liability coverage to anyone you allow to drive your insured vehicles, even if not specifically named on the policy.

So if you lend your car to a friend, coworker, or neighbor, USAA covers their liability while using your vehicle that one time, with your permission. No need to notify USAA or add them to the policy.

The key is that the use must be specifically allowed by you, the named insured, for coverage to apply. If someone takes your car without permission, they would likely not have coverage.

Limits of Liability Coverage

While USAA does extend liability coverage to permissive drivers, there are some limitations:

• The liability limits (example 100/300/50) are shared between all insured drivers and vehicles on the policy

• If damages exceed your policy limits, the additional driver could be personally responsible

• Regular exclusions apply, like driving for commercial purposes

• The additional driver’s own insurance, if they have a policy, would be primary

So liability protection does extend, but not in an unlimited fashion. Situations like delivering food in your car or driving recklessly may not be covered.

What About Physical Damage Coverage?

USAA’s collision and comprehensive coverage insures damage to your specific insured vehicles. So unlike liability coverage, this protection does not extend to other drivers automatically.

If you lend your car to a friend and they wreck it, collision coverage would pay for repairs or replacement value if you were driving. But since the friend is not a named insured, USAA is not obligated to pay for damage with them driving.

However, USAA does give you the option to add specific drivers to your policy to extend physical damage coverage to them, even if they aren’t eligible members themselves.

When you specifically add other drivers, they are treated the same as far as collision, comprehensive, uninsured motorist, and other optional coverages.

So while liability extends to permissive drivers automatically, physical damage coverage requires adding drivers to the policy. But USAA gives you the flexibility to do this if you want additional people insured under your auto policy.

Covering Young or High Risk Drivers with USAA

Insuring young drivers under 25 or high risk motorists brings additional considerations with USAA policies:

• Licensed teens 15 1/2 to 17 can be added to a USAA auto policy but premiums will be higher

• For excluded young drivers, liability extends but collision/comprehensive does not

• Adding high risk drivers like those with past tickets, accidents, or DUIs will increase your premium

• But they can purchase their own non-owner liability policy through USAA

• Other options are assigning high risk drivers to their own separate USAA policy or exclude them from yours

The key is working with your USAA agent to explain exactly which drivers need coverage and explore all available options to properly insure them affordably under your policy.

Non-Owner Car Insurance Policies

Another way USAA covers drivers not eligible to be members is through non-owner auto policies. These are liability-only policies available to:

• Anyone requiring an SR-22 filing
• Excluded drivers on USAA policies needing separate coverage
• Young drivers age 16+ who don’t own a car but need insurance to drive
• High-risk drivers who can’t get regular coverage

So non-owner policies are an option for certain other drivers to gain USAA liability insurance without being a member. The policies can also be purchased for young students away at college needing local coverage.

Again, guidance from a USAA agent is key to understanding when a non-owner policy may make sense for a driver vs. adding them to your existing auto policy.

Final Tips on USAA and Other Drivers

Insuring permissive drivers under your USAA car insurance policy involves considering:

• Liability extends automatically but physical damage does not

• Specifically named excluded drivers have liability coverage

• Other responsible drivers can be added for full coverage access

• Non-owner policies are an option for non-members requiring basic liability

• Work closely with USAA agents to understand your coverage needs

• Review limits and exclusions so additional drivers have sufficient coverage

• Adding young or high-risk drivers will increase your premium

With a combination of options like named driver exclusion, permissive use coverage, separate policies, and non-owner insurance, USAA provides solid protection for military families to properly cover other drivers beyond just policyholders.