USAA membership

[Birdman7]

Let me help you Matt. @Anonymous

While we’re at it I’ve got a question myself. What if someone had both insurance and other products? Would they be a member of both tiers? What if one’s father is dead and they don’t know if he had USAA products?

[Anonymous]

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@omgitsMatt wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

USAA is very strict and they have two tiers of membership. 

Tier 1 has USAA products other than insurance 

Tier 2 has or had insurance

Tier 1 can never sponsor anyone for membership, Tier 2 can sponsor sons and daughters as well as spouses. 

So say your maternal grandfather served, your grandfather was a USAA member and had USAA insurance. Your mother would have to join and get USAA insurance which would then make you eligible to be sponsored through her membership. 

While NFCU will let you use a service record for eligibility with or without them being a member, USAA not only requires membership but requires insurance to have been purchased by that member at some point. 

From their website: 

“Family

Widows, widowers and un-remarried former spouses of USAA members who had USAA auto or property insurance while married and individuals whose parents have or had USAA auto or property insurance.”

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I'm not entirely sure what the etiquette is on bumping an older post like this?

I know you're around and still participate with the community, so I'll take a shot asking here.

Is this still their policy? Because I want to start the hassle of joining for my wife, then possibly piggy backing off of her for me in the future.

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Their eligibility looks to be the same. 

"Thank you for your interest. USAA is a member-owned insurance and financial services company.

Who can apply?

• Active duty officer and enlisted personnel
• National Guard and Reserve officer and enlisted personnel
• Officer candidates in commissioning programs
• Former spouses and adult children of USAA members

If you would like more information or clarification on USAA's eligibility requirements, please call us at 1-800-292-8302."

They are very strict, you can't even sponsor a brother or sister and you can't sponsor a parent either - it would be your spouse and your children. 

What their current eligibility rules don't make clear is whether the insurance requirement is in place but that requirement has been there a good while from my understanding so it's a safe bet to assume it still applies. You can call of course. 

[omgitsMatt]

I helped my father in law get a loan via NFCU while he sat next to me in my office the day I asked this question, did everything for him and walked him through everything.

When finished, I asked him to return the favor by becoming a member as he is a Vietnam veteran. He called me a few hrs later and gave me his service details as I went through the process of doing the member application.

So here is what I've done, in this order.

1.) Made him an acct. No proof of identity asked, just specific service details, address, SS# etc.

2.) As I was lurking his account view, I saw an option to add family members to his profile. So I added my wife. They asked for all the same details for her.

Address
SS#
Phone number
Email
Bday
Military service? (No)

My father in law had the option to add all that in whole adding her as a family member.

3.) I was surprised, but she got an email immediately with a member #. I took that to website and saw an option "create online account".

They asked if whoever was already a member (Yes)

Punched in member # from email like asked

They asked for a lot of info her father provided earlier to confirm her identity, but no other proof of identity required.

Few other misc things.

She was in.

4.) From her account, I added myself to her profile as a family member/spouse. I got an email too, so did everything the same as for her. Bam, I was in too.

5.) Went through the application process for auto insurance just to see if they'd let me, got to payment details section and backed out. I just did it to see how far I could get.

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None of that means the accounts aren't restricted for wife and I, IDK. Buts its possible?

He sponsored her while never being insured by them. Then she did same for me. In a two day period.

It will be a long time before I apply for anything to find out if her and I have any opportunity to app even. I don't know. I won't hold my breath, but maybe?

[omgitsMatt]

I was very particular about answering everything honestly, I wanted to see what was possible.

Neither one of had served. Just him.

He added her. Then she added me. In that order.

[AllZero]

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@omgitsMatt wrote:
I was very particular about answering everything honestly, I wanted to see what was possible.

Neither one of had served. Just him.

He added her. Then she added me. In that order.

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Congratulations on your memberhip! Thanks for sharing the data points.

[frencheese]

I joined USAA to get insurance through them. My mom had to become a member and I needed her social but she didn't get any products through them. I now have USAA insurance through them and she does not.

[omgitsMatt]

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@frencheese wrote:

I joined USAA to get insurance through them. My mom had to become a member and I needed her social but she didn't get any products through them. I now have USAA insurance through them and she does not.

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Looks like they may have opened up the gates to a small degree. Well, large degree in relation to everything I've read about them.

Even their Wikipedia page talks about how hard it is to get in

[Anonymous]

Yeah it certainly sounds like they have gotten a bit lax right now. I would ask my dad about him sponsoring me but I just don't want to talk to him so I guess I'll continue to go without. 😂 

[omgitsMatt]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yeah it certainly sounds like they have gotten a bit lax right now. I would ask my dad about him sponsoring me but I just don't want to talk to him so I guess I'll continue to go without. 😂 

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I was plotting on asking my father in law for quite awhile now, maybe even almost a year, because I wasn't going to bother with my Dad and him sponsoring me either lol

I was resigned to only getting my wife in too.

When he asked me to coach him through Navy Federal I had that window of opportunity I needed, he owed me 😂

[omgitsMatt]

edit/ I dont' like how I keep posting sometimes, so will just edit this post instead so I don't clog the forum or thread. But my guess is the quiet change in policy is due to the CEO change in December

I expected more of a challenge, which I enjoy sometimes because it feels like a puzzle.

My favorite one was Apple Federal Credit Union. 

Had to print out and mail an NDVADACA application and send $20 to join that affiliation.

Once I got my membership card, I then applied online.

They asked me a million questions about why I would want to join, then eventually told me they were not accepting applications online at the moment for security reasons. That I had to drive 14hrs to the nearest branch and apply in person.

A few weeks later I was in Virginia visiting family coincidently, so I took 90m and drove to the branch that was closest and applied for membership while in the area.

I genuinely found it entertaining, in a sardonic way. 

I expected more of a challenge here, they didn't deliver