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Experienced personal finance writer
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Sarah enjoys helping people find smarter ways to spend their money. She covers auto financing, banking, credit cards, credit health, insurance, and personal loans.
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USAA provides insurance and other financial services to veterans, active-duty service members, and their families. The company offers many auto insurance discounts, including the SafePilot program, to help its members save money.
The program is a type of usage-based insurance (UBI), which means it uses technology to track and evaluate your driving habits. If you display safe driving habits, you could earn a generous discount when your policy renews.[1]
Let’s look at how the program works and how much you could save on car insurance by signing up.
USAA’s SafePilot is a telematics insurance program that leverages technology to improve the user experience and encourage safer driving behavior.
This program tracks your driving habits via an app on your phone and assigns you a driving score.
The program could be worth it for safe or low-mileage drivers, but it may not be the best choice for everyone.
The USAA SafePilot program uses telematics technology to reward you for being a safe driver. After signing up, you’ll receive a program overview and a link to download USAA DriveSafe, the app that runs the SafePilot program.[2]
Once you download and set up the app, it begins to monitor your trips and give you a driving score. Fortunately, you don’t need to open the app every time you get in the vehicle — it’ll continue to run in the background and log your driving.
You must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the program:
Live in a participating area
Be in good standing with USAA
Have a valid driver’s license
Be listed as a driver on the policy
In addition, each driver must log at least 325 miles and 16 hours driven per policy period to qualify for a discount.
Liability quotes start as low as $40 per month
Once you’ve downloaded and set up the app, it’ll monitor your trips and give you a driving score based on various metrics. These include the following driving behaviors:
Phone handling
Making calls (both handheld and hands-free)
Harsh braking
Annualized hours driven
The app relies on your phone’s location and activity sensors, so it’s important to review your phone settings and allow the necessary phone permissions for accurate trip tracking. You can also view your trip history, driving scores, and real-time driving insights directly in the app.
After signing up, you’ll have a 14-day learning period to begin to understand your driving habits and any infractions without penalty. Once the 14 days are up, you’ll start fresh for the rest of the policy term — any trips you took won’t affect your score or future discount.[3]
Automatic 10% discount for enrolling
14-day learning period is free of penalty
Poor driving habits won’t increase your auto insurance premiums
Program available only to USAA members
Hands-free calls are penalized
Not available in California, Delaware, and New Jersey
You’ll receive an initial 10% discount just for enrolling in this insurance program. Once your policy renews, you could receive a discount of up to 30% based on your driving data.
You’ll earn the highest discount by enrolling all eligible drivers in the program, according to USAA.
Online reviews of USAA and the SafePilot program are mixed. The company received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, though it’s not an accredited BBB business. The DriveSafe app is highly rated, receiving 4.5 stars in the App Store and 4.1 stars in Google Play.
But USAA received only 1.2 stars on Trustpilot, with more than 3,000 reviews. Some of the reviews did contain information that contradicts USAA’s stated policies. For instance, this reviewer claims that once you sign up for the program, you’re enrolled for life. The company’s FAQ page clearly states you can remove yourself at any time.
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Discussions in Reddit threads were also mixed when it came to the program. Many reviewers appreciated the safe driving application for its ability to provide helpful feedback and track driving metrics, though some people had issues with notifications and customer service.
You can enroll in the SafePilot program by logging into your USAA account and going to your auto policy summary. You can opt into the program for yourself and any other eligible drivers in your household.
Once you’ve enrolled, you’ll receive a text message inviting you to download the DriveSafe app. After downloading the app, you’ll verify your enrollment by entering the phone number you used to sign up for the program.
Next, you’ll agree to the terms and conditions and allow the app to begin logging and scoring your trips. Once you’re done, the 14-day learning period will begin, and the app will begin recording your location information and driving behaviors.
USAA collects the following information about each trip you take:
Your location
Time of day
Whether you’re the passenger or driver
Phone handling
Hand-held calling
Hands-free calling
Harsh braking
Annualized hours driven
Possible accidents detected
USAA says it uses this information to calculate your driving scores and any future discounts you receive. If you’re involved in an accident, USAA may use this data when you file a claim.
The company says it shares your data with third-party providers only if it’s necessary to administer the SafePilot program. But it doesn’t share your data for their use or give it to marketing companies. If you’re concerned about your data, you should review the SafePilot Privacy Policy and Program Terms and Conditions for more information.
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The USAA SafePilot program can help you save money if you’re a consistently safe driver who’s comfortable using an app to track your trips. The automatic 10% discount at enrollment and potential savings of up to 30% at policy renewal make it an attractive option for current USAA members.
But it’s not going to be right for everyone, especially if you frequently drive late at night or engage in riskier driving habits. And if you value your privacy and don’t like the idea of using a tracking app, you may want to pursue traditional auto insurance discounts instead.
SafePilot may be worth it if:
You drive less than average.
You rarely use your phone while driving.
You brake gently and aren’t an aggressive driver.
You’re comfortable using a tracking app.
Here’s some additional information about the SafePilot program and how it works.
Once you enroll and download USAA’s DriveSafe app (which runs USAA’s SafePilot program), it runs in the background on your phone and automatically logs your trips. It uses sensors and GPS to monitor driving behaviors like phone usage, braking habits, and call activity. Your trips contribute to your overall driving score, which determines your discount at renewal.
No. USAA doesn’t currently monitor whether you exceed posted speed limits. Instead of speeding, it focuses on behaviors like phone handling and braking to evaluate driver habits.
No. Poor driving habits won’t result in a rate increase. While you may not earn a discount if your driving score is low, your insurance rates won’t go up solely because of your participation in the program.
The SafePilot app uses your phone’s motion and activity sensors to determine whether you’re the driver or a passenger. You can also manually edit your trip in the app if it gets it wrong.
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Jamie Johnson is a Kansas City-based personal finance writer whose work has been featured on several of the top finance and business sites in the country, including Insider, Credit Karma, Bankrate, Rocket Mortgage, Fox Business, Quicken Loans, and The Balance. For the past six years, she's dedicated more than 10,000 hours of research and writing to more than 2,000 articles about personal finance topics.
Jamie has been a contributor at Insurify since October 2022.
Experienced personal finance writer
Background working with banks and insurance companies
Sarah enjoys helping people find smarter ways to spend their money. She covers auto financing, banking, credit cards, credit health, insurance, and personal loans.
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