21st Century vs. USAA Car Insurance Comparison [2024]

Are you on the hunt for cheap car insurance? It can be easy to get overwhelmed when you start comparing all the different companies and types of coverages that are out there. Your service option is going to depend on a few personalized factors that you may have already set.

Most people will look at not only what coverage options are offered, but also how quickly a company responds to claims, what the payments look like, and if customer satisfaction is upheld. Since auto policies are usually purchased for vehicles that drivers tend to have for a while, it makes sense that they’re going to want protection against anything that could happen. 

Plus, there’s the business side of things as well. Most providers look into a person’s driving record, credit score, whether they pose as a financial risk, what their payment history has looked like, and how much car insurance they need. Some will use all of these factors when figuring out your insurance cost, others may only use a handful. See where it could get overwhelming? 

To help you out, we’ve compared two of the bigger insurance companies on the market – 21st Century vs. USAA. Each company has something great to offer, so keep reading to learn more.

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21st Century: Who are they? 

The first option we’re looking at is 2st Century. 21st Century is a part of the Farmer’s Insurance group. They are active in almost all of the United States, working with a variety of underwriters to offer coverage to the vast majority of Americans.

21st Century insurance primarily offers car insurance. This means that if you want to protect yourself and your vehicle from accidents or any other sort of damage that may occur on the road, or even in your driveway, you may want to take a look at what auto policies they offer. However, as part of the Farmer’s Insurance group, they are partnered with other great companies to provide their customers with additional insurance types. You can check out our Farmers car insurance review for more information about the company.

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USAA: Who are they? 

USAA is an insurance provider explicitly designed for members of the USA armed forces. This means that only those members, their spouses, and their children are able to enroll.

While USAA is not available for everyone, for those that qualify for membership, there are a plethora of services available. Once you have a USAA login you will have access to much more than just car insurance.

USAA also offers various other insurance types, from life to homeowners, and more. They also offer optional coverage for your vehicles, as well as quite a few discounts. They also offer options for banking, investments, retirement, and mortgages. Applicable customers could easily have their medical payments covered as well as any damage done to their vehicles through the various medical and life insurances that they have as well. Visit our USAA car insurance review to learn more.

What coverage do they offer?

Both companies offer the most common types of car insurance coverage, including:

• Bodily injury liability coverage
• Property damage liability
• Collision car insurance coverage
• Comprehensive car insurance coverage
• Uninsurance or underinsured motorist coverage
• Antique/classic car insurance

When it comes to more specialized insurance coverage, each company offers these things but very differently. Specialized coverages include:

• Rideshare insurance
• Rental car insurance
• Boat coverage
• ATV coverage
• Fleet car insurance

21st Century does not offer these types of coverage directly, instead, they partner with other insurance companies to provide them, according to their website.

USAA offers these specialized coverages directly, which can be more convenient if you are looking for a single insurance provider and hoping to bundle insurance policies.

Where is coverage available?

USAA offers coverage in all fifty states, DC, and some international locations, according to their website.

21st Century Insurance offers coverage in all US states other than Massachusetts and Hawaii. You can check to see whether they service your location via the internet or calling and speaking to an agent. Don’t be surprised if the coverage descriptions and prices change depending on where you’re located – this is common practice. 

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What discounts are available?

Both 21st Century and USAA insurance offer a wide array of car insurance discounts to their customers. Many of these discounts, while their names may differ, cover the same circumstances.

Driver discounts: These types of discounts usually revolve around avoiding at-fault accidents or attending training or courses. Some of the most common types are good student car insurance discounts, safe driver discounts, and defensive driving discounts.

Both companies offer several of these types of discounts under different names, check out the full list below.

21st Century	USAA
Good Driver	Safe Driver
Superior Driver	Defensive Driving
Good Student	Driver Training
Mature Driver	Good Student

Vehicle discounts: Vehicle discounts are discounts related to the vehicle or vehicles you have on your policy. Both companies provide basic discounts for vehicle safety features, such as anti-locking breaks, anti-theft discounts, and air bags.

However, USAA does offer an additional, unique discount called the vehicle storage discount. This is a pertinent discount for military members who often have to store their vehicles during deployment.

Other discounts: Below we’ve listed some miscellaneous discounts offered by each company according to their respective websites. Keep in mind that this does not mean that these are the only discounts available. You can also check out our guide to USAA car insurance discounts.

21st Century	USAA
Paperless Billing Discount	Family Discount
Autopay Discount	Length of Membership Discount
	Military Installation Discount
	Insurance Bundling Discount

What about customer satisfaction ratings? 

According to the 2020 JD Power Auto Insurance Study, USAA scored 878 in the overall customer satisfaction index while Farmers, the parent company of 21st Century, scored 812.

While both scores are good, USAA currently has the highest score of the larger insurance companies listed. It does not get to be officially ranked number one due to its membership requirements, however.

Farmers is currently in second-to-last place. When someone is looking into signing on with a company, they’re going to want to see a few things, and a high customer service rating is normally among them.  

Which car insurance company is right for you? 

Depending on your circumstances, both 21st Century and USAA have their benefits.

One of the first things to take into consideration is that USAA is only available to US Military members, their spouses, and their children. If you are not in one of those groups, then this company is not for you.

However, if you are a military member, the versatility of USAA in providing various insurance and other financial services makes it a great company to look into.

21st Century, while available to everyone regardless of their military status, does offer fewer types of coverage directly.

Their ability to partner with other great companies to provide additional insurance types can be seen as a benefit. You are not just working with one company but many, ideally getting the best deals each can offer.

In the end, the most important thing to remember when shopping for car insurance is to shop around. See what additional coverage options are out there. There are so many possibilities for all types of vehicles, and for budgets of all sizes. Having even the most basic protections could prevent financial disaster in your future. Get quotes from all the companies that are available in your area and provide the coverage you want.

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