For everryone who is agruing about who's rates are lower, here is a little tip for you. For six years I worked for the largest automobile insurer in Texas. Insuarance rates are not the same for everybody. Factors include age, credit score, where the vehicle operates, how many miles you drive per year, if the vehicle is used to go back and forth to work, or strictly for pleasure. Then there are the multi vehicle policies, home owners insurance, driving record, the make and model of the vehicle, your marital status. And all of these rules vary from company to company.
Because someone gets a cheaper rate from GEICO than you where quoted, simply means that they are rating you differently because of one of the above mentioned factors, and USAA may not be giving as much weight to some of those criteria, based on their claim experiance in your area, age group, etc.
Heck, I went to Allstate once and when I told him I had State Farm Insurance, he claimed that they could not come close to beating State Farm's prices???
You only need to get the best value for the type of insurance you want. Also, remember that if the insurance company has field agents and salesmen, you are paying for their commission (not much on auto insurance) but it does ad to their cost and overhead which in turn increases the prices they charge. I personally think that you will see more and more insurance companies using the GEICO model and allowing you to get quotes and buy insurance over the internet or telephone and eliminating the local agent.
The days of the friendly insurance agent helping you to get the best possible insurance coverage for your dollar is slowly comming to an end as people soon realize that they are trying to push you into more coverage than you need or can afford. Some agents will try to convince little old ladies that they need to carry expensive, $100 deductable collision insurance on a 20 year old junker that is not worth more than $1000 on a good day.
...Rich