This New Car Insurance App Has a Unique Angle That Saves Drivers Hundreds

Root Car Insurance Credit: Root Insurance
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Let’s face it, shopping around for car insurance can be a pain, and even more so if you’re a good driver. Insurance companies base their rates on statistics, so you may find that you’re being penalized for being young, being single, or living in the wrong neighbourhood.

In fact, the methods that most insurance companies use to set their rates may seem like voodoo magic to most of us — each insurance company does their own secret math to come up with numbers that seem more intended to confuse and frustrate customers than to provide any kind of balance or transparency.

That’s where Root Insurance comes in. This startup has grown from humble beginnings to a rising star in the insurance-tech industry by promising to save its customers up to 52 percent on their car insurance by calculating rates based primarily on how an individual user actually drives.

What Makes Root Unique

Most insurance companies really don’t care how well you drive. Instead, they look at the statistics for how everybody in your particular demographic drives — based on things like age, gender, and marital status. If there are more accidents and insurance claims for drivers in a given category, the rates for ALL of the drivers in that category will be higher.

This means that even if you’re a good driver, there’s a good chance you’re being penalized by the fact that many other drivers aren’t.

Root, however, has come up with something completely different. Instead of looking at the herd, it actually does look at your driving style and skills — how you drive, not who you are — and it does this exclusively through the advanced sensors on your iPhone.

While there are other insurance-tech companies that offer similar benefits, most of them require that you install sensors in your car, which can make the process more complicated. Root’s method couldn’t be easier, since you likely always have your iPhone with you anyway, and there are more than enough sensors in your smartphone to monitor how well you drive.

How to Get Your Free Driver Score to See How Much You Can Save

It’s actually really simple to get going with Root and get an initial quote for car insurance that’s based on your driving skills. In less than a minute you can download the Root app and sign up. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Download the Root app on your iPhone.
  2. Open the app and follow the quick prompts to sign up for an account in ~47 seconds.
  3. Give the app permission to access your GPS and motion sensor data so it can see how you drive.
  4. Take a picture of the back of your driver’s license.
  5. Confirm your name, address, and vehicle information.
  6. Start driving.

The app automatically pulls most of the data it needs right from your driver’s license, so all you need to do is confirm it, and once you’re set up, it runs in the background, so you don’t need to worry about starting it up before you hit the road.

Just drive your car around like you normally would for a few weeks for your Root “test drive” that will factor in things like how hard you brake, how sharply you turn, how consistently you accelerate and decelerate, and during what times of the day you typically drive.

You can check how many days are left in your test drive right in the app, and once your test drive is completed, Root will show you your driving score and offer you an actual insurance quote that’s personalized just for you, which you can accept right within the app to sign up.

It doesn’t end there, either. Once you’ve signed up for Root, you can access lots of other benefits directly through the app, such as pulling up your insurance card, customizing your policy, filing a claim, or even requesting roadside assistance. No need to wait on hold to talk to a human agent — almost everything you need to do is right at your fingertips.

Root will even cancel your current policy for you, making it really easy to switch, and the app also continues to monitor your driving once you’re signed up, letting you earn achievements, and offering more savings down the road.

Download Root’s app here to see how much money being a good driver can save you.

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