How do Subscriber’s Account distributions work?
Learn what affects Subscriber’s Account distributions and how to change the way you receive them on Manage Subscriber’s Account Distribution Preferences.
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If you receive communication from USAA about something called a "Subscriber's Account," you may be thinking, "What's this?" Simply put, it's our way of sharing our financial success with you, our members, by distributing a portion of your Subscriber's Account balance.
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Each year USAA's Board of Directors determines if and how much the association can share with qualifying members through a Subscriber's Account.
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How you receive these funds is up to you. The fastest and safest way is to have it electronically deposited into your bank account or applied to your auto or property insurance bill, but there are other options as well.
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You can set your preference by clicking "Edit Preferences" next to this video. Select "Edit" to change how you want to receive your funds. Choose the preferred method and if applicable, what account to distribute it to. Then click "Continue" and that's it. Be sure to review it each year so we know how you'd like to get your disbursement.
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Subscriber’s Account overview
Subscriber's Accounts hold part of our capital, which is the money we use to build, run and grow our business. They help us meet legal and regulatory requirements, support our operations, and pay losses.
They also allow us to us share some of our earnings with members. A portion of USAA’s capital is held in each qualifying member's name.
If the USAA Board of Directors approves distributions for the year, we may pay some of that money back to our members.
For more information, review the USAA Bylaws.
This is a percentage of your Subscriber's Account balance that can get paid back to you.
We may not have distributions every year.
Our board bases the decision on several things including our regulatory and financial requirements, investment portfolio, and company performance.
Depending on how much income we earned during the year, we may share, or allocate, some of it with our members.
The allocation amount we add to your Subscriber’s Account balance depends on how much is in your account and how much of your auto and property insurance premium you’ve paid during the year.
A distribution is a percentage of your Subscriber’s Account balance that can get paid back to you.
Every February, we send a statement that shows the allocation amount and any distributions approved for the previous year.
We’ll send it digitally as “Review Your Subscriber’s Account Annual Allocation” in My Documents.
If our board approves distributions for the year, you’ll typically receive it in mid-December.
If we notified you about a distribution over a month ago and you still haven't received it, call us at 800-495-5957.
If you’re a first-year member, the amount of money we allocate to your balance is based on a percentage of your yearly auto and property insurance premiums.
After your first year, this amount will also vary based on how much is in your Subscriber's Account.
Anytime you get paid a distribution, your Subscriber Account balance goes down.
No. It's an account in your name where part of USAA’s earnings is held and managed by our board of directors according to the USAA Bylaws.
They’re not usually taxed, but you can consult a tax adviser for more information.
Every February, we send a yearly statement for the previous year that shows your balance.
We’ll send it digitally as “Review Your Subscriber’s Account Annual Allocation” in My Documents.
You can choose to get emails, texts or push notifications by updating your Delivery Settings.
If you don’t update your Delivery Settings, we'll mail your statement and a notification about your distribution to you.
Senior Bonus distributions
It’s an additional distribution worth 10% of your Subscriber’s Account balance.
We give this to USAA members who’ve been with us for at least 40 years. We’ll notify you as soon as you become eligible.
If our board of directors approves distributions and you qualify for a Senior Bonus, you’ll receive it in mid-February.
Your Subscriber's Account balance changes over time as you get distributions and allocations made into the account.
Because your Senior Bonus is usually 10% of your Subscriber’s Account balance, the amount you get changes every time your Subscriber’s Account balance changes.
To check your current balance, review your yearly statement. We send it digitally as “Review Your Subscriber’s Account Annual Allocation” in My Documents.
They’re not usually taxed, but you can consult a tax adviser for more information.
Distribution delivery
Yes. You can choose any of these options.
- Deposit the money into your USAA account or an external bank account on usaa.com or the USAA Mobile App.
- Apply it to your USAA auto and property insurance bill.
- If you’re eligible for a Senior Bonus distribution, you can leave the money in your Subscriber’s Account.
To change your delivery settings, go to Manage Subscriber’s Account Distribution Preferences.
While we don’t mail most distributions anymore, you can keep your mail delivery preference if you’re eligible for a Senior Bonus.
Checks can take up to two weeks to arrive after distributions are sent.
To get your money faster, you can have it deposited into your account or apply it to your insurance bill.
You can update your delivery preferences at Manage Subscriber’s Account Distribution Preferences. But if you change your preference, you won’t be able to choose mail delivery again.
You can change your Subscriber’s Account distribution preference until Dec. 1 every year.
If you’re eligible, you can also update your Senior Bonus distribution preference until Feb. 1.
Changes made after those dates will apply to distributions approved in the future.
No. You only need to set it once.
If you don’t set a preference for your Subscriber’s Account distribution, we'll apply it automatically to your auto and property insurance bill.
If you’re eligible for a Senior Bonus distribution and you don’t choose a preference, the money will stay in your Subscriber’s Account.
We may have applied it because:
- You haven’t updated your distribution preferences.
- Your account balance was past due.
- We had a problem processing it.
Once your bank returns the money from it back to USAA, we’ll apply it to your auto and property insurance bill. If they don’t return the money to us, you should reach out to them about it.
To change how you get distributions in the future, go to Manage Subscriber’s Account Distribution Preferences.
Yes. We’ll apply the distribution to your next billing statement and you’ll pay whatever is left over.
If you're on the automatic payment plan, the distribution will apply to your next billing statement.
We'll hold it for one monthly billing cycle. After that, if there's no new account activity, we'll pay it out to you.
If you have automatic payments from a checking or savings account, the money will go back to that account.
If your insurance bill is usually paid in full, you can have your distribution deposited into your account. This is the quickest way to get your money.
Set your delivery preference at Manage Subscriber’s Account Distribution Preferences.
No. We only apply distributions to policies that you pay directly to USAA.
Account closure
According to USAA Bylaws, we'll send you what’s left in your balance approximately six months after you cancel your policy or end your membership.
If you owe a balance, we'll use the money from your Subscriber's Account to pay for it before we send you the remaining amount.
According to USAA Bylaws, if you have a spouse, we’ll pay it out to them. They can also keep the money in an account in their name.
If you want the money sent to someone else, you’ll need to add them as a beneficiary to your Subscriber’s Account. To do this, call us at 800-531-USAA (8722).
If you don’t have a spouse or choose another beneficiary, we'll send the payment to your estate.