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Does USAA Offer Mortgage Protection Insurance? What USAA's Site Describes
USAA mortgage protection insurance isn't a policy on USAA's site. It describes Eagle Express term life, which it says can help pay off a mortgage.
Reviewed by Brian Carrozzi
Founder, RestAssured · Licensed life insurance agent
Updated · How we write and review
Short answer: USAA mortgage protection insurance isn’t a separate product on USAA’s website. USAA’s life insurance pages describe Eagle Express term life, which USAA says is great for needs including “paying off a mortgage,” with coverage from $100,000 to $10 million for 10 to 30 years. Term life pays your beneficiary, not your lender, so you decide whether that money goes toward the house.
Does USAA sell mortgage protection insurance?
USAA’s life insurance and term life product pages don’t describe a policy called mortgage protection insurance or mortgage life insurance. What USAA’s term life page does describe is USAA Eagle Express Term Life Insurance. In its FAQ, USAA says Eagle Express “offers fixed coverage for a specific amount of time” and is “great for meeting big needs that usually subside over time,” including “paying off a mortgage and providing for education goals.”
USAA also publishes an advice article, “Pros and cons of mortgage life insurance.” It describes mortgage life insurance in general terms but doesn’t say USAA sells such a policy. In it, USAA says that “A healthy individual can usually find more favorable premiums with a standard term life insurance policy.”
Who can buy USAA life insurance?
USAA says, “You don’t need a military connection to get life insurance through USAA,” and “Our policies are available to all U.S. citizens.” On its term life FAQ, asked who is eligible, USAA answers, “Everyone.”
USAA says its life insurance and annuities are provided by USAA Life Insurance Company, San Antonio, Texas, and USAA Life Insurance Company of New York, Highland Falls, New York. USAA’s term page says Eagle Express is “Not available in NY.”
What does USAA say about Eagle Express term life?
Here’s what USAA’s own term life page says:
| USAA Eagle Express Term Life Insurance | |
|---|---|
| Policy type | “A term life insurance policy” with “coverage and premiums fixed for a set period, or term” |
| Issue ages | “Great for people ages 18 to 70 who want flexible coverage” |
| Coverage amount | “Get protection from $100,000 to $10 million” |
| Term lengths | “From 10 to 30 years” |
| Premiums | “Premiums remain level for the duration of the policy” |
| Underwriting | “Approval for coverage is based on your answers to underwriting questions and may require a medical exam” |
| Conversion | “You can convert it to permanent coverage after 1 year with no medical exam,” subject to certain requirements and an expiration date; “Converting will increase your premium” |
| Mortgage use | USAA lists “paying off a mortgage” among the needs it’s great for |
| Issuer | “Issued by USAA Life Insurance Company, San Antonio, TX 78288” |
| Availability | “Not available in NY”; “may not be available in all states” |
Source: usaa.com. USAA says life insurance products “may have limitations and conditions” and that your actual premium “will be determined after underwriting review and may vary by state, age, birth sex, and risk class.”
How can a term policy be used for a mortgage?
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) says, “If you die during the term period, the company will pay the face amount of the policy to your beneficiary.” With a policy sold as mortgage protection, NY DFS says, “If the insured dies the proceeds of the policy can be used to pay off the mortgage.”
The money goes to the person you name. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) explains, “Your life insurance company will make payments after your death to the person you name in your policy,” and “If you don’t name a beneficiary, or your beneficiary is dead, the company will pay the death benefit to your estate.” If you want the benefit to pay off the house, talk that plan over with your beneficiary and keep your designation current.
USAA’s own article describes a different product. It says mortgage life insurance “is a type of credit life insurance designed to pay off your remaining mortgage balance” and that “The beneficiary of mortgage life insurance is the lienholder.” TDI says, “If you already have life insurance, you might not need credit life,” and that you can instead assign part of your death benefit to the lender to pay the loan balance.
Is a level benefit or a decreasing benefit better for you?
NY DFS says, “Under a level term policy the face amount of the policy remains the same for the entire period,” while “With decreasing term the face amount reduces over the period.” Of decreasing term, NY DFS says, “Often such policies are sold as mortgage protection.”
USAA says Eagle Express offers coverage and premiums fixed for the term. USAA’s mortgage life article says mortgage protection coverage “may decrease as the loan is paid down.” Compare the two shapes in decreasing vs. level term for mortgage protection, and see mortgage protection vs. term life insurance.
How is this different from PMI or VA mortgage life insurance?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says private mortgage insurance is “a type of mortgage insurance you might be required to buy,” that “PMI protects the lender—not you,” and that “PMI is arranged by the lender and provided by private insurance companies.” USAA’s article likewise says “PMI is meant to cover your loan in the case of payment default.”
| PMI | Credit life | Term life (such as Eagle Express) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Protects the lender if you stop paying (CFPB) | Pays the loan balance if you die before it’s paid off (TDI) | Pays the face amount if you die during the term (NY DFS) |
| Who gets the money | The lender (CFPB) | Toward the loan (TDI) | Your beneficiary (NY DFS) |
| Who arranges it | The lender (CFPB) | Need not be bought from the lender (NY DFS) | Issued by USAA Life Insurance Company (USAA) |
Separately, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs runs Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI), which VA describes as “Up to $200,000 in mortgage life insurance—paid directly to the bank or other lender that holds your mortgage.” It’s a VA program, not a USAA product, and VA says eligibility requires that “You received a Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant.” See VA mortgage insurance and VMLI.
What should you ask before using USAA term life for a mortgage?
- Term vs. your loan. Terms run 10 to 30 years. Which term lines up with the years left on your mortgage?
- Coverage amount. USAA’s minimum is $100,000. How does that compare with your loan balance and other needs?
- Underwriting. Approval may require a medical exam. What questions will you be asked?
- Your state. Eagle Express isn’t available in New York. What does USAA offer where you live?
- Conversion. What are the requirements and the expiration date for converting, and what would the permanent premium be?
- Riders. USAA’s term page lists riders such as the Term Life Event Option Rider and Term Life Insurance for Children Rider. Which apply in your state, and what do they add to the cost?
- Beneficiary. Who will receive the money? TDI says the insurer pays the person you name.
- Licensing and free look. TDI says, “Make sure the agent and company are licensed to sell insurance,” and that “Texas policies have a free-look period of at least 10 to 20 days.” Ask about the free-look period in your state.
The bottom line
USAA’s website doesn’t describe a product called mortgage protection insurance. It describes Eagle Express term life, with $100,000 to $10 million of coverage for 10 to 30 years and level premiums, and lists paying off a mortgage among its uses. NY DFS says term life pays your beneficiary, who can use the money to pay off the mortgage, while the CFPB says PMI protects the lender. Check the term, amount, conversion rules and state availability against your loan, and compare quotes for the same coverage from more than one source; we don’t rank companies.
If you’d like to compare mortgage protection and term options for your age and loan, a licensed agent can go over them with you, with no obligation. Here’s how calling RestAssured works.
RestAssured is not an insurance company or an insurance agency; we connect callers with independently licensed insurance agents. RestAssured is not a lender and isn’t affiliated with any mortgage lender or servicer. RestAssured is not affiliated with USAA. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Frequently asked questions
Does USAA offer mortgage protection insurance?
USAA’s life insurance and term life pages don’t describe a product called mortgage protection insurance. They describe USAA Eagle Express term life, which USAA says is great for needs including “paying off a mortgage.”
Does USAA have mortgage life insurance?
USAA publishes an article on the pros and cons of mortgage life insurance, but its product pages don’t list a mortgage life policy. In that article, USAA says a healthy person “can usually find more favorable premiums with a standard term life insurance policy.”
Do you have to be in the military to get USAA life insurance?
No. USAA says, “You don’t need a military connection to get life insurance through USAA,” and that its policies “are available to all U.S. citizens.”
Is USAA mortgage insurance the same as PMI?
No. The CFPB says private mortgage insurance is arranged by the lender and “protects the lender—not you.” A term life policy pays its face amount to your beneficiary if you die during the term, according to NY DFS.
Can USAA term life be converted to permanent coverage?
USAA says you can convert Eagle Express to permanent coverage after one year without a medical exam, subject to certain requirements and an expiration date. USAA also says converting will increase your premium.
Sources
- USAA: Eagle Express Term Life Insurance
- USAA: Life Insurance
- USAA: Pros and cons of mortgage life insurance
- CFPB: What is private mortgage insurance?
- New York State Department of Financial Services: Types of Policies
- Texas Department of Insurance: Life insurance guide
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI)
This article is for general education. Policy features, prices and eligibility vary by insurance company and state; your agent will explain the specific terms of any policy before you apply.