Advertiser Disclosure Sure, other insurance companies may have apps, but Root auto insurance was born as an app.Root began as a startup in Ohio in 2015, and the company differentiates itself from other insurance providers in a couple of ways.In calculating premiums, it weighs your driving behavior, not record, first.

Root also doesn’t insure bad drivers, so it pays out less. However, that means it can deny coverage if you aren’t the best driver.Also, it does still look at your driving record, and that can also influence your premium.

To get a score, you first have to take a test drive with the Root app, which can take a couple of weeks.Root car insurance is one of the companies we researched as part of a deep dive into the insurance market.In this article, we’ll take a good look at the company and also go over some Root insurance reviews.

  In this article: Root Auto Insurance Coverage Options Root Insurance is a young company and is only available in 29 states.If the big players in insurance are like department stores, Root is like a corner market.You can really only get a few things, such as: Liability coverage: Root provides bodily injury and property damage coverage options at different levels.

These are the coverages that are required by law in each state unless you prove you can cover the cost of an accident yourself.Liability coverage applies to other vehicles and people when you are at fault in an accident.If you go with just the minimum requirement, you can be sued by the other party to make up the difference, so it’s a good idea to pay for a bit more coverage here.

Collision coverage: This type of insurance pays for your car when you cause an accident.If you have an expensive car, your collision coverage rates will be higher.This coverage also pays for a tow truck for your car if you were at fault in an accident.

Without collision, you’ll have to cover the cost of a tow truck in that situation.Comprehensive coverage: This option pays for any other type of damage to your car.It includes damage from hail, floods, lightning, and more.

Rental reimbursement: With this option, you can get reimbursed for a rental car while your car is in the shop.You can choose your own limits in terms of days and prices that can be reimbursed per rental.Also, you can choose to take Lyft rides instead and get reimbursed for those.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist property damage: Root auto insurance also includes the option to cover damage when an uninsured driver hits your car.It’s a good idea to have this coverage, because even though people are required to have insurance, not everyone has it.For example, about 26 percent of Florida drivers in 2018 didn’t have coverage.

That could be every fourth driver on the road.If you get hit by an uninsured motorist and don’t have this coverage, that would add monetary insult to injury.Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury: This option covers your medical expenses in the scenario outlined above.

Medical coverage: Seventeen states require personal injury protection, which covers your medical costs and lost wages no matter who is at fault.Medical payments (MedPay), a different coverage option, is required by eight states and pays for medical expenses.What Root Auto Insurance Doesn’t Cover While it might seem like we just covered a lot of ground, in reality, that’s just a fraction of what most insurance companies offer.

Here are some things you can’t get with Root insurance: Gap coverage Rideshare coverage Commercial or small business car insurance Specialized vehicle insurance for ATVs, boats, motorcycles, RVs, etc.Home, travel, or pet insurance Umbrella coverage What Makes Root Different? There are a few things that make Root car insurance different from your run-of-the-mill insurance company: It’s still in elementary school.Root was founded in 2015.

Compare that to Geico, Progressive, and State Farm, which were all founded in the first half of the 1900s.It’s not available everywhere. Root plans to expand to eight new states in the near future, but it only covers twenty-nine states as of late 2019.Likewise, if you move from a covered state to one without coverage, your policy won’t transfer.

Not everyone can get it.Root offers insurance based on your driving.The company says that it can keep rates low because it doesn’t insure bad drivers.

It claims that the worst 30 percent of drivers cause 45 percent of all damage costs, so it prefers to not insure those drivers.Other companies will insure you no matter how you drive, but not Root.Root can also cancel your policy if you begin to display a pattern of accidents and tickets while under a plan.

You need a smartphone.Root car insurance is only available through what it calls a “test drive.” This is a two- or three-week period where Root judges your driving ability based on an app.If you don’t have a smartphone, or if your iPhone is older than a 5S, you’ll have to upgrade your phone to download the app.

Everything is done in the app.From the test drive to making claims, everything is done right in the app.During a claim, you’ll get email updates as the process moves along.

That’s nice, but it’s also not as personal as a phone call with an agent.There are no agents.Root auto insurance does away with old-world concepts like the personal agent.

You can call customer service and talk to a real person, but they won’t be specifically assigned to your policy like an agent from Allstate or Nationwide would.How Much Does Root Auto Insurance Cost? Root’s website claims that drivers can save as much as 52 percent on their current insurance payment by switching to Root.While you can’t pull up insurance quotes online, people do attest to getting good prices, at least during the first six months.

For some, rates may go up after that depending on a number of factors.If you are a good driver, you can probably find a rate through Root that is less than what you are paying now.Keep in mind that Root can monitor how much you use your phone while driving for the test drive.

If you use it during your trips, your driving score will go down.That’s a good thing because distracted driving is linked to all kinds of accidents.If you live in one of these states, you can also expect your premium from Root to increase drastically after an accident.

How To File A Claim With Root Filing a claim with Root Insurance is simple.Just open up the app to start the process.You’ll answer a few questions about the nature of the accident.

Next, you’ll take photos of your vehicle and submit your claim.After that, a claims expert will respond with further instructions.Root pays by check and recommends that you keep your contact information up to date in the app to speed up the process.

Roadside Assistance With Root Auto Insurance Another thing that makes Root car insurance different is that each plan comes with roadside assistance already included.That’s pretty cool.The program covers the cost for three occurrences per six-month term.

Each occurrence has an allowance of $100.To claim service, you have to make a request through the app.Now, you might be in the middle of nowhere when you need service, and might not have a great data signal.

In that case, you can use another provider and email your receipts to Root for reimbursement.Even if you have another roadside company that you use, you might as well claim your allowances with Root as well.Here’s what Root’s roadside assistance covers: Lockout service Fuel delivery Spare tire replacement Jump-start Towing Any Issues With Root Auto Insurance? Root attracts people because it is tech-focused and young.

However, the company’s age also works against it.Starting a multi-state insurance company in just a few years is a huge undertaking.Does the leadership team have the experience and knowledge to handle it? Car insurance companies have a lot of responsibility.

It’s one thing to be polite on the phone, but another to manage serious incidents like accident and theft restitution.While Root Insurance is available in more than half of U.S.states, the company only has about 700 employees.

Compare that to State Farm’s 56,000 employees, and you can get an idea of its size.Another indicator of its size is that it’s not even on J.D.Power’s 2019 Auto Claims Satisfaction Study.

Aside from being small, some people have had issues with being denied insurance even though they performed well on the test drive.That’s because a person’s driving record is the second metric that Root takes into account, and it’s almost weighted as heavily as the test drive.The company says its insurance is based “primarily” on how you drive, but how you have driven in the past does still count.

Another downside is that you can’t just switch to Root car insurance at the drop of a hat.If you know that your current insurance renews in the next few days, you’ll probably have to pay some type of early cancellation fee to switch over once the test drive results come back in a few weeks.Root Car Insurance Reviews Overall, it seems that Root is accomplishing its goal of insuring safe drivers and helping them save money.

In this review by a prospective customer, the customer got a quote of $88 when their current insurance was $300.The company has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and it’s also BBB accredited.It has received 136 complaints on its BBB page, but it has also closed all of them.

One complaint is about a huge increase in rates after the first six-month period.In answering the customer, the Root representative said that Root recently discovered a few past accidents.At the start of the second period, discounts for safe driving and five years without an incident were removed.

At the same time, Root increased all rates for people in that state.These events led to the customer’s rate almost tripling.All insurance companies periodically raise rates across the board, but the concerning thing is that Root took note of past accidents during the renewal period, and not before the original policy went into effect.

A Root car insurance review on the company’s BBB page said that Root did help them by getting a rental car and providing payment for a covered event.However, the reviewer also went on to say that the process took longer than expected.The company has over 20,000 ratings on the Google Play store, and it has a 4.1 rating overall.

There are obviously many happy customers.Some Root car insurance reviews do say that it’s hard to get a real person on the phone and that prices can increase after six months.Our Verdict On The Root Car Insurance We think that many people can find affordable rates through Root, but it’s probably not best for everyone.

If you need any other type of insurance and want to bundle, you’ll have to go elsewhere.You also might not be approved in the first place if you drive late at night or have bad driving habits.Another thing to consider is if Root’s business model will prove itself long term.

Car Insurance Providers With More Flexibility The secret to finding great car insurance is researching several different providers.In our recent review of 12 companies, a few stood out from the pack.Geico If you want a company with some more coverage options, we’d recommend looking into Geico.

Geico came out with 4.5 stars out of 5 in our review, where we found it to provide great value across many different criteria – including financial stability, trustworthiness, and customer service.You can get it in any state, and you don’t have to wait a few weeks to get a quote.Best Company Overall ★★★★★ Get Quote Our 2nd favorite and best for those ineligible for USAA: Offers competitive pricing and great coverage.

 Progressive Progressive auto insurance also warranted 4.5 out of 5 stars in our book.The provider has an extensive selection of coverage, plus add-ons like rideshare coverage and coverage for custom parts and equipment.You can also find protection for your home, rental property, boat, RV, motorcycle, and more with Progressive.

Great for Discount Bundles ★★★★★ Get Quote Our 3rd best overall pick: Offers a number of ways to get a discount, including the Snapshot tool or bundle options. Frequently Asked Questions Is Root car insurance any good? Our verdict is that Root auto insurance can be good if you can wait a few weeks to get a quote, and you have good driving habits and a good record.If you need anything else besides auto and renters insurance, you won’t be able to get it with Root.

Does Root offer full coverage? Yes, Root offers full car coverage through a combination of bodily injury, property damage, collision, and comprehensive insurance.Does Root Insurance have SR-22s?  Yes, Root can provide an SR-22 form to satisfy state requirements.That’s a plus because not all auto insurance companies can.