Root Car Insurance App - What are its features?

Car insurance is mandatory for any car owner and can be a pain to choose the right one. There are a lot of car insurance companies on the market, some reliable and trust-worthy, others only into scams, some with better prices and better coverage.

Factors to consider when choosing a car insurance service

There are some general guidelines you should follow when in the market for a good car insurance; here are the most important ones:

• Deductible value; find out how high your deductible will be to know how much you’ll have to pay out of your own pocket in case you get involved in a car accident
• Coverage; how good is the coverage, what is included in your policy
• Try to keep a good credit score, because with most car insurance companies, a good score will have a positive impact on your premium (rate you have to pay for the policy)
• Pay attention to crash repairs, to make sure the insurance company doesn’t send you to a shop that forces cheap, low-quality components on you, to save money
• Pay attention to discounts as most reputable companies offer them, especially to lower risk drivers, such as those who are experienced/older, have a good driving record and so on

Root Insurance - What is it and what does it offer?

Root Insurance Co is a car insurance company relatively new on the market. The company was only founded 5 years ago and it currently operates in 25 states, although it plans to add the remaining ones by the end of 2019. Root operates in: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah.

Root Insurance app - How does it work?

This car insurance company is a bit different than most. Instead of applying for an insurance through an office and an agent, with endless forms and annoying paperwork, Root Insurance works exclusively through a mobile app. Their app, Root, is compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

The concept behind Root Insurance is this: drivers have to be tested for their driving skills before being accepted and bad drivers are not eligible for Root Insurance.

Drivers’ skills are tested with the help of the app, during a 2, 3 weeks ‘test drive’, as Root calls it. Those who are interested have to download the app, install it, create an account and grant the app the required permissions, including enabling the GPS at all time.

Then, each time your drive, your driving skills are measured through complex algorithms, the app will identify patterns with the help of your phone’s motion sensors and will even be able to know whether you are sitting in the driver’s seat or the passenger one, whether you are in your car behind the wheel, on a bike, in a bus and so on.

The sign up process takes under a minute and the test drive will take around 2, 3 weeks, for the app to gather enough data to figure out how good of a driver you are.

The app doesn’t have to be open every time you have to drive, it can still run in the background. The only thing that is absolutely necessary is for your GPS to be always enabled.

For those who are skeptical regarding the always enabled GPS, Root Insurance ensures them they will respect their privacy and won’t sell their data to third parties.

What will the app analyze?

The app will analyze factors such as: your braking habits, your turns and how fast you make them, how often you drive and during what hours of the day (the more you drive during safer hours, the higher you’ll be graded), how you use the gas pedal, how many starts and stops you have and more.

All these aspects are tracked during the test drive and you can review each of them in your driver scorecard. After enough trips are made, a general score is given and a rate will be presented to you, depending on how you did on the ‘test’.

If you don’t qualify for a car insurance policy with Root Insurance, you will be notified. That can happen if you drive really recklessly, under the influence of alcohol, you get involved in accidents, you are really inconsistent in your driving style, etc. If you are a good driver, you can save up to more than 50% with this insurance company. The better your score, the lower the rates.