How much does car insurance cost for the military?

No, the military does not pay for car insurance. Military personnel are required to purchase their own car insurance coverage, though most major auto insurance companies offer discounts and special services for military service members, making it easy to find affordable and flexible coverage.

Members of the military are still required to purchase enough car insurance coverage to fulfill their state’s car insurance requirements. If you will be storing your car during deployment, you can temporarily cancel your coverage as long as you turn in your license plates or file an affidavit of non-use. However, you will be financially responsible for anything that happens to the car while you’re gone, and insurance companies might question the lapse in coverage in the future. Instead, many insurers allow you to purchase comprehensive-only coverage when your car is in storage during deployment.... read full answer

For more details, check out WalletHub’s guide to military car insurance.

USAA insurance is only for military members, veterans, and their families. Once someone becomes a USAA member, USAA eligibility can be passed down through their spouse and children, even if the family members themselves never join the military

Who Can Qualify for USAA Insurance?

• Active, retired, and honorably discharged members of the U.S. military... read full answer
• Cadets and midshipmen of U.S. service academies
• Children and step-children of current members
• Spouses and widows/widowers of current members
• Former military spouses who have not remarried

To learn more, check out WalletHub’s USAA insurance review.

USAA is so cheap because the company is the largest insurer of the military community, and that volume allows USAA to offer more competitive rates. USAA has more than 6% of the total private-passenger insurance market, despite only offering coverage to service members. A minimum coverage policy from USAA costs an average of $53 per month, and USAA premiums can be made even cheaper by taking advantage of discounts such as paid-in-full discount and annual mileage discount. Plus, USAA rewards customer loyalty with discounts for insuring more than one car and bundling multiple policies, such as home and auto.... read full answer

Average Monthly Rates for USAA vs. Top Competitors

Note: Premiums are representative of a 45-year-old good driver in CA; individual premiums will vary.

USAA is especially cheap for young drivers in particular. That’s because USAA has special savings opportunities for drivers in this category, such as discounts for students who maintain at least a B average.

Your final premium is based on a variety of factors, though, such as your driving record, insurance history, and more. Every insurance company determines their rates differently, so even though USAA is among the cheapest car insurance companies, the only way to confirm you’ve found the lowest price is to compare quotes from multiple companies.

To learn more, check out WalletHub’s review of USAA and see USAA’s full profile.