USAA Business Insurance Review 2023: Pros, Cons, Coverage Options
USAA business insurance is a great option for business owners with military affiliations.
Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
Updated · 2 min read
Written by
Senior Writer, SMB 
Edited by
Senior Editor & Content Strategist 
Co-written by
Lead Writer & Content Strategist USAA business insurance
United Services Automobile Association, best known as USAA, limits its membership to U.S. military members and veterans, precommissioned officers, and their spouses as well as their children.
If you're eligible to buy coverage from USAA, though, its business insurance stacks up well — the company earned high marks from NerdWallet for its financial strength, online policy management features and offering the business insurance policies most customers need.
Eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis, so it’s best to contact USAA to see if you qualify for membership.
USAA business insurance pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Far fewer complaints about general liability insurance were filed with state regulators than expected for a company with USAA's market share, according to a NerdWallet analysis. | You can't currently add an additional insured or file a claim online, though the company is working on adding those features. |
| You can get a quote online, and at least some businesses can purchase policies online. | Far more complaints about workers' compensation insurance were filed with state regulators than expected for a company with USAA's market share, according to a NerdWallet analysis. |
| You can access your certificate of insurance and track claims online. |
Business insurance products available through USAA
USAA members can purchase a business owner's policy, or BOP, along with:
- General liability insurance.
- Workers’ compensation insurance.
- Cyber liability insurance.
- Umbrella insurance.
- Commercial auto insurance.
Business owner's policy (BOP)
USAA’s BOP bundles three common types of insurance for convenience: General liability, commercial property insurance, and business income insurance.
General liability insurance
General liability insurance, also called business liability insurance, protects you and your assets when you or your company are responsible for paying someone’s medical expenses, attorney fees or damage.
Business liability policies typically exclude employee injuries, vehicle-related incidents and intentional acts of harm, which require insurance protection under different products.
General liability insurance is included in USAA’s business owners’ policy, or can be purchased as an individual product.
Commercial property insurance
A BOP from USAA also includes commercial property insurance, which covers expenses related to your physical place of business. This coverage protects your building, inventory, furniture and equipment if it is damaged or lost, as well as any signage, storage sheds, landscaping and fences.
Depending on the incident, as well as policy coverage, your commercial property insurance also could include property owned by others.
Business income insurance
Business income insurance, also called business interruption insurance, is the third component of USAA’s business owners’ policy. Business income insurance pays out when your business operations are disrupted by circumstances out of your control. You can use business income insurance to pay for lost revenue, payroll, taxes, and more.
» MORE: How to get business insurance
Workers’ compensation insurance
Workers' compensation insurance is required in many states if your business employs contractors and/or employees. This coverage can cover medical expenses and lost wages for workers who sustain work-related illnesses or injuries.
Professional liability insurance
If your professional service or advice goes awry, USAA professional liability insurance protects your small business from claims of negligence or financial harm. This type of insurance is also known as errors and omissions insurance, or E&O.
USAA professional liability insurance can be added on to any business insurance policy.
Cyber liability insurance
As cybercrime increases each year, cybersecurity insurance helps businesses cover expenses and costs associated with digital data breaches and other cyber breaches.
Umbrella insurance
Umbrella insurance provides an additional safety net of financial coverage. If your company is required to pay for a catastrophic claim, an umbrella policy kicks in once you reach the liability limit on another policy.
Commercial auto insurance
Applicants seeking USAA commercial auto insurance will be connected with insurance providers through USAA’s partner network.
Commercial auto coverage can include up to five standard components: Liability insurance, medical coverage, comprehensive, collision and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
USAA lists several scenarios in which a small business could benefit from commercial insurance coverage:
- You use your vehicle for business.
- You have an ad for your business on your personal vehicle.
- You have fleet vehicles or a trucking business.
- You rent vehicles for your business.
If you are a USAA member who drives for a delivery or rideshare company like Uber or Lyft, you can add rideshare insurance to a personal auto insurance policy instead of purchasing commercial auto insurance.
More resources for veteran business owners:
Should you purchase USAA business insurance?
USAA may be a good fit for your business if:
- You qualify for USAA membership. Typically, this is limited to members of the U.S. military, veterans, precommissioned officers, their spouses and their children.
- Your insurance needs aren't too complex. USAA doesn't offer specialized types of coverage like directors and officers insurance, employment practices liability insurance or liquor liability insurance — you'll need to shop elsewhere for those coverages.
- You want to manage your policy online. You can access your certificate of insurance online, and USAA told NerdWallet that you'll be able to add an additional insured and file claims online beginning in 2023, though those options aren't available as of this writing.
Alternatives to USAA business insurance
If USAA isn't the right fit for your business — or you don't qualify for USAA membership — consider the following alternatives.
- If you want to buy insurance online: You can get most of the types of insurance USAA offers from Chubb online, as long as your business generates $1 million or less in revenue.
- If you want to work with an insurance agent: State Farm finished atop the customer satisfaction ratings in J.D. Power's 2022 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study. A State Farm agent near you can help you figure out what coverage you need and buy the right policies.
- If you need types of insurance that USAA doesn't offer: Contact a local independent insurance agent who sells policies from Travelers, a major business insurance company that offers highly specialized policies alongside more common ones like workers' comp.
Article sources
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary,
trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed
studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with
industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy,
timeliness and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's
high standards for journalism by reading our
editorial guidelines.
Methodology
Business insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s business insurance ratings reward companies that offer small-business owners reliability and ease of use. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, customer complaint data, shopping experience and customer service. Learn more about how we rate small-business insurance companies.
These ratings are a guide, but insurance policy details and prices can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2018-2021.
To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period.
Our star ratings consider ratios for both general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. When an insurer sells policies that are underwritten by several different insurance companies, we consider the NAIC complaint ratios of all the underwriters.
More like this
