For day ten of my Allstate Drivewise/ Root test drive, I got to do a few experiments, mostly with Drivewise because Root doesn’t tell me squat. It’s still coming along swimmingly, but the data it gives you is minimal. Allstate Drivewise Doesn’t Know Who’s DrivingI’ll explore the tech behind how some of these apps determine who’s driving in a future blog. Obviously, because Root doesn’t show you your driving history, you’ll have no way of knowing if it tracked a trip or not. Allstate Drivewise, however, gives you maps of your trips. Suffice it to say, I did go out to lunch with a friend the other day and my friend drove while I sat in the passenger seat. Neither car insurance app so much as blinked. Root didn’t change my rating and Allstate didn’t log the drive there or back. However, I went to a concert last night. I drove to my friend’s house. From there, we caught a Lyft to a venue. After the concert, we caught a second Lyft to a restaurant. After dinner, we caught a third Lyft back to my friend’s. I followed the same pattern getting into the vehicle each time; my friend opened the rear passenger door, I got in, and I slid across the back seat until I was seated behind the driver. Again, I don’t know if Root tracked any of these and decided I was driving, but I do know Allstate Drivewise assumed I was behind the wheel going from my friend’s house to the venue. It didn’t log the other two as me though. You Can Delete Allstate Drivewise Trips to Improve Your ScoreA lot of the data Allstate Drivewise has reported thus far has been inaccurate, including instances of speeding at over 80mph. As such, my latest stats concluded I could anticipate 0% cash back at the end of my cycle. I decided to remove several trips from my Allstate Drivewise record and noted them as “Trip Info Incorrect” in the app. I can now anticipate 8% cash back again. Truth be told, it really doesn’t matter because if Root gives me a decent quote, I already know I’m leaving Allstate at this point. I mostly did it for kicks to see what would happen. Root Still Gives Me 9/10Part of me wonders if Root doesn’t give out all the info Drivewise does because it’s just as inaccurate. However, I’ve remained a 9 or 10 for my whole Root test drive, so I’m thinking they’ve got stuff down that Allstate doesn’t yet- tech-wise and competitive rate-wise, of course. Follow My Root Test DriveI’ll be reporting back the results of my Root test drive as I go and comparing it to Allstate Drivewise. Check back to see how it ends. If you’ve used either car insurance app and think others can benefit from hearing your experiences, click “Share Your Story” in the main menu.
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Where does the time go? I’m already on day nine of my Root car insurance test drive. For anyone who just joined us, I’m an average suburban chick with 2.5 kids, an ancient mom van, and a good driving record. I decided to give Root a go because Allstate’s premiums are killing me. After starting the Root test drive, I realized Allstate’s Drivewise program worked similarly and might give me cash back as opposed to initial savings, so I’m running both apps at the same time to see where it goes. Allstate Drivewise is DumbSeriously. I give up trying to make sense of it. A drive I made this afternoon said it stopped tracking due to low battery. Umm… no. It tracked me to my destination. I checked back later and that notice was gone, but it didn’t track me on the way home. My battery was at 33%, so…. Yeah. Drivewise does whatever Drivewise wants to do, and that seems to include marking speeding and hard braking. You’ll have to check my blog on Allstate being a liar for those details or I’ll rant again. My Current Drivewise StatsHard Braking: 2 events Extreme Braking: 1 event Miles Below 80mph: 120.3 Miles Above 80mph: 0.8 Miles Driven During… High Risk Hours: 0 (High Risk= Weekdays 11pm-4am, Weekends 11pm-5am) Moderate Risk Hours: 57.9 (Moderate Risk= Weekdays 12pm-11pm) Low Risk Hours: 22.4 (Low Risk= Weekdays 4am-12pm) Lowest Risk Hours: 40.8 (Lowest Risk= Weekends 5am-11pm) Projected Cash Back: 0% Root is Boring and Predictable (and that’s ok)Root isn’t giving me all the stats like Drivewise does, but it doesn’t really need to. I don’t know what else to say other than it seems to be working as expected and it hasn’t surprised me. My Current Root StatsScore: 9/10 Estimated Driving Discount: 25-50% Braking: 7/10* Consistency: 7/10* Safe Hours: 10/10* Turning: 10/10* *Root doesn’t give number scores for the final four categories- it uses a sliding scale and doesn’t use words or numbers to tell you your rank. Based on the visual indicators, I gave myself a rank assuming a 0-10 scale. I Miss My Battery LifeThese apps continue to drain my battery. I was at 100% charge and lost 2/3 of it in about four hours. I think at this point, it’s pretty obvious I won’t be keeping Allstate, so I’ll be deleting the app. Root doesn’t need to keep tracking you once you’ve been offered a quote, so I imagine the drain will be far less significant. I’m looking forward to that. See Where My Root Test Drive GoesRoot has not offered me a quote yet, so my leaving Allstate is contingent upon that, and upon Root offering me a good quote, of course. I’ll be updating this blog as I go, so check back if you’d like to hear more. You can also click “Share Your Story” in the main menu if you’ve used Root or similar and you think the audience here can benefit from hearing about your experience.
It’s day eight on my Root test drive. If you’re following along with me, welcome back. If you’re new here, here’s the 411… I’ve had Allstate my whole life, have a great record, and am sick of the high premiums. I saw an ad for the Root car insurance app and decided to give it a go. That inspired this blog, and while trying it out, I found out Allstate is doing something similar with its Drivewise program, so I decided to run them both and see which served me better.
Root Customer Service Responded About Non-Tracking GlitchIn other news, I finally heard back from Root customer service about it intermittently behaving as if I had changed my settings and not tracking me. It took like four days or so to get a message back. Anyway, they don’t know what caused the issue and are forwarding the case to the engineering team, but suggested that if it is impacting my ability to be tested, I can delete the app and start the test drive over using a new email address. Hmm… So… I’m filing that little tidbit away for a rainy day. Nice to know there is a way to restart a test drive. However, I am sticking with this one, though I plan to do as little freeway/ rush hour driving as possible. For what it’s worth, Root has been catching all the drives that Allstate Drivewise has scolded me on and is missing my better drives, with the exception of one instance of “extreme braking,” meaning the Root glitch is not improving my score, but it could be hurting it because it’s missing good drives. Meh. I think I’ll get it back up to 10 again as long as I’m not out when the idiots are. Take the Root Test Drive with MeI’m logging the results of this experiment as I go, so as I write, I have no idea if Root will even give me a quote, nor what it will be. Keep checking back for updates if you want to hear how this ends or download the app for yourself.
If you’ve used Root or something similar and want to tell our readers about it, you can also click “Share Your Story” in the main menu. I’m doing the Root test drive and am on day seven. I realized right after I started this that Allstate offered similar tech, so I decided to download both apps, compare them, and see who offered the best rates. Allstate Drivewise is a Liar
Meanwhile, Root Continues to Sweet-Talk MeRoot Would Be My Passenger Anytime, Will You?Yeah, I know. It’s only been a week and I’m already head-over-heels for Root. Relationships like this that come on strong usually fizzle out just as quickly, so maybe I’m getting too far ahead of myself. Time will tell. If you’d like to see where this goes, follow along as I update the blog, or you time-traveling gurus can skip ahead to the end if you like.
I also want to share the stories of others. So, if you’ve tried the Root car insurance app, Allstate “Liar” Drivewise, or something similar, click “Share Your Story” and tell me about it, so I can share it with the world. I’ve been doing the Root test drive and comparing it to Allstate Drivewise for about a week now, so I’m finally at a point where I think I know where it’s headed. It ain’t lookin’ good for Allstate, but it is, however, looking fabulous for ME. Root Says I’m a Perfect 10As of this morning, the Root car insurance app says I’ve got 2-3 weeks to go and thinks I’m scoring 10/10. That’s probably because it’s still glitchy and didn’t know I hit the brakes too hard on the freeway yesterday- either that or it’s not as picky as Allstate Drivewise. No word from customer service on the glitches which prevent tracking sometimes yet, but I’m tentatively excited about this.
Loyalty and Safety Mean NothingI have been with Allstate my whole life. Other than a single incident when I first got my license, have been accident-free. That’s nearly two decades of safe driving. I haven’t even had a ticket in about the same amount of time. Yet, I estimate that I’ve paid out about $36,000 in car insurance premiums in that timeframe. My word. Granted, none of us knows what the future holds, and that’s why we buy insurance, but that’s a serious chunk of change I’ve given Allstate. Instead of giving me a competitive rate, they’re keeping premiums high, which means the payment I make this month to them just might be my last. I feel kind of sad about ending such a long relationship with a company, but it’s clearly one-sided. *sigh* Side Note: Allstate Nailed Me for Speeding (Sort Of)I made one last trip out on Day 6, but it was another on the I-10 and US 60. Allstate’s Drivewise program cautions you not to go over 80mph, which gives a lot of wiggle room. The Root app says nothing about speed. I’m feeling comfortable enough having Big Brother ride beside me now that I’m driving regularly, so I moved with the flow of traffic, but watched my speed. I averaged about 70, but did creep up to 75 when I had someone tailgating me and couldn’t move over. Allstate claims to have clocked me at over 80mph twice. I’m calling BS on that one, Allstate. No way. I was aware and watching and my speedometer tends to be 1-2 mph over signs that check you, so I can guarantee I did not come close to doing 80. Whatevs. Root still says I’m a perfect 10. Call Shotgun on My Root Test DriveWanna see where this thing goes for sure? I do. I still have no idea if Root will give me a quote or what it will be. If I get one and it’s on par with what others are reporting, I will be saying goodbye to Allstate. I could know within a couple of weeks, so hop in the passenger seat and come along with me. You can also click “Share Your Story,” to tell us about your experiences with Root and Allstate Drivewise, and if it’s non-salesy and coherent, I’ll share it on the blog too.
*sobs* I penned a beautiful blog post and my computer crashed. Boo. I’m starting to think I’m the glitch and not Root or Allstate Drivewise. Anywho… welcome to the fifth day of my Root car insurance test drive. For those of you who are just joining us, I’m an average chick who lives in the Phoenix area. I’m an info junky, a bit of a tech geek, and want to save money on car insurance, so trying out the Root app was a no-brainer. I decided to share my experience as it’s happening. In the process of doing that, I discovered that my current car insurance company, Allstate, uses similar tech with its Drivewise program, so I’m running them both and doing a comparison. Here’s where I’m at so far. Root is GlitchyThe Root glitches have continued. I check my apps with OCD-like tenacity before and after each drive, so I can kind of sort of isolate when it hasn’t captured a trip because it pops up an error message. It behaves like I’ve changed my settings when I haven’t and then stops logging. I sent a message to Root customer service more than 48 hours ago and have not heard back. Allstate is GlitchyWhereas Root will not come back to life until I go into my settings, Allstate Drivewise has a mind of its own and logs intermittently. I never see errors since I enabled background app refresh for all apps, but sometimes it captures a whole trip, sometimes I get part of a trip, and sometimes I get none. Meh. Allstate Says I’m Guilty of Extreme Braking (And I’m Glad Root is Glitchy)Both apps track your braking habits. Root doesn’t tell you when you’ve screwed up, but it does have a sliding scale that indicates how you’re doing overall. Allstate Drivewise has an in-your-face map of each trip and adds a ginormous marker on the map when you mess up. My early morning trips were uneventful, but I had to run my kids out to their dad’s and he lives on the west side of Phoenix while I live in one of the suburbs east of it. It’s about an hour drive, depending on traffic, though I try to avoid rush hour when I can. For those familiar with the area, I was on the US 60 westbound where the two left lanes split off; one for the I-10 westbound carpool lane and another for the I-10 east. At the same time, the far right becomes an exit-only lane for Priest Drive, so you’ve got six lanes and four possible directions. People always mess up and wind up in the wrong lane, which makes this a particularly dangerous section because they’ll slam on their brakes or cut across several lanes at once. Also, the speed limit is 65mph, but most are going 75+. The moral of the story is, I got up to this split and the eastbound I-10 offramp was backed up about a half mile onto the 60, plus there was an accident in the left lane, as well as another accident a quarter mile up on the right. All this was at the tail-end of rush hour, or just after 7pm. Anyway, I had no way of knowing there were two accidents ahead, though I could see the backup start in the eastbound 10 exit. I reduced my speed some and had a safe distance between the car ahead of me and myself, but they slammed on their brakes, so I had to too. This was, apparently, a no-no in Allstate Drivewise’s book. Mind you, my phone sat on the passenger seat and didn’t move an inch, but it was enough that Allstate marked me down for an instance of “Extreme Braking.” There’s really no predicting this and it’s the nature of freeway driving, so it somewhat irks me that I’d get gigged for it, but whatever. I learned at my destination that Root had quit working, so it likely missed the issue, which… you know… I’m actually cool with. From Allstate Drivewise: “Hard braking events are defined as slowing down 8-10mph in one second. Extreme braking events are defined as slowing down >10mph in one second.” Root Doesn’t Care if I Use the Phone while DrivingDropping off my kiddos didn’t go great. The youngest was in tears and wanted to go back home with me, but also wanted to stay there for activities. In any case, it was a long, emotional farewell. As I got back on the freeway, my son called me via Facetime audio. I’ve been really mindful about using my phone in the car, but in this case, not answering was not an option, so I fell upon my sword, sabotaged my score, and picked up. We chatted for about ten minutes while I drove on the freeway. When he felt calm and good, we hung up. The cool news: It did not impact my score. Come Along on My Root Test Drive with MeI’ll be updating this blog as I continue my Root test drive and see if I can reduce my car insurance payments, so check back for updates.
I’m also going to be sharing the stories of others, so if you tried Root, Allstate Drivewise, or something similar, and you think the readers here could benefit from hearing how your experience went, click “Share Your Story” in the main menu. Welcome to day four of my Root test drive. I’m trying out the Root car insurance app because I’m hopeful it will save me some money. I’m also running the Allstate Drivewise app alongside it. Initially, I had hoped it might be a viable option to save money with my current car insurance company, but it looks like it won’t. However, I don’t know that for sure yet and I think it’ll be cool to see how the results compare and how each ranks me. Glitches Galore on RootRoot has decided, for whatever reason, that my settings are intermittently wrong, even when I don’t touch them and even when the app has not had an issue with them for a few hours. It looks as though it didn’t track my morning run to school, so I fired off a message to customer service this morning. No word back yet.
Keep Following My Root Test Drive and/or Share Your StoryI’m going to keep documenting this as I go, mostly because I’m a nerd and the tech intrigues me. If it intrigues you too, keep checking back for updates. I presently plan to do them daily, but if the apps stop being exciting, I’ll stop writing and wait for new developments.
In the meantime, I’m also glad to share the experiences of others. If you’ve tried Root, Allstate Drivewise, or a similar service, and you want to tell us about it, click “Share Your Story” in the main menu. I’m doing the Root car insurance test drive and on day three. To recap, I started this because I saw an ad for Root and heard there could be some major cost savings. That said, when I downloaded the app and started using it, I also realized my current company, Allstate, has a similar program called Drivewise which could lower my bill a bit too. I did a preliminary cost-comparison, and you can find that here, but the gist is that if I fall into the lower tier cost-wise with Root, they’ll still blow Allstate out of the water—perhaps by as much a $100 per month. So, I actually downloaded both apps and am using them at the same time and reporting the back here what my experiences are like. Both Allstate Drivewise and Root are GlitchyAs of this morning, the Root app says my test drive will take 6-8 weeks instead of 3-4 weeks. Last night, I realized the Allstate app was giving me errors saying there was a problem with the background app refresh. However, each time I’d go into the settings, the app refresh toggle would be set to “on” and faded, signifying I wasn’t allowed to turn it off. That’s pretty weird. I couldn’t do anything about it and repeated resets didn’t fix it. I took two drives this morning and didn’t really look at Root until after I was home from the second one. I think, at most, I spent 30 minutes behind the wheel, all on city streets. When I got home and checked Root, I realized I had the same error I was getting yesterday. It’s a generic error that tells me to fix my Motion an Fitness settings and that my rides aren’t being tracked. That’s a bummer because it means I probably wasn’t tracked during my morning drives. When I click the button to go to settings, everything looks ok. If I close out of the app and go back into it again, it’s fine. So, now I’m starting to wonder if this is an iOS issue; that perhaps Allstate Drivewise and Root are both flaking out because something’s up with the background app refresh- and nothing I can control via settings. Spoiler Alert: They’re unrelated problems. On the day I wrote this, I updated iOS (which did nothing for either app) and enabled background app refresh on Wi-Fi and cellular for all apps. The latter made Allstate Drivewise happy and the error warning disappeared. Root’s error continued on Day #4. I don’t know what’s causing the issue with it and have an email out to their customer service. Bye Bye Battery Life and DataMy home internet connection can sometimes flake out for a minute or so at a time, and when I can’t use the net well, I shut off Wi-Fi. Alas, I forgot I shut it off and now I’ve burned through a month of data in 3-4 days. Boo. Also, my phone used to go a whole day without a charge. I’m now having to charge it at least two, sometimes three, times a day. Double Boo. A Wired article says Root no longer tracks you once you’re insured, whereas Allstate’s program requires your tracking to remain on. So, it seems that for the sake of battery life and data, Root may be the better choice. Worse yet, the most I can hope for is a $38 savings per month with Allstate Drivewise, and most or half of that would probably go to paying for extra data, meaning Drivewise would be a wash at best. Boo. Allstate Drivewise Recognized My Afternoon Trip… Sort Of…Because of the errors and my delayed download, Allstate had not been tracking me thus far. However, I took an afternoon trip to a store that’s normally 15 minutes away via freeway, and one of my kiddos convinced me to stop for fast food on the way. The Allstate Drivewise app keeps a record of your trips and you can actually view them. Oddly enough, my trip record shows the trip to the fast food joint a mile away from my house, but not the second leg of the trip. I was really interested to see the data from Allstate because their app will tell you if you’ve done any hard braking or sped, whereas Root does not, and some of the Root reviews complain that they got denied because they drove on freeways in stop-and-go traffic and hit drive-throughs. Personally, I’m calling BS on those reviews. I’m betting those are the people who tailgate and drive like racecar drivers, sliding in and out of lanes, or drive aggressively. I don’t drive like that, so I’m eager to see if any rush hour traffic kills a score and those folks are right, or if they’re just bad drivers who got disqualified from Root because of that. Obviously, the two companies are unrelated, so their algorithms are going to be different, but I’m betting they’re similar enough that if Allstate tells me I’m driving bad, Root will have a problem with me as well, and vice versa. Time will tell. Follow Me on My Root Test DriveI’m documenting my Root test drive as I go. I don’t know at this point if I’ll even get a quote from them or if what they say will be compelling enough for me to make the switch from Allstate. However, I think sharing my story will help others, so I’ll continue journaling until I have enough info on both Allstate Drivewise and Root car insurance to make a decision. I’m also accepting guest posts and reviews from others who have tried Root or Allstate Drivewise, so if you’ve got something worthwhile to say, click “Share Your Story” on the main menu.
In Round One of Allstate vs. Root, I’m going to break down what my current Allstate bill is, what I think I will pay if I get cash back for using Allstate’s Drivewise program, and what I estimate my Root bill will be if I get a quote. My Current Allstate Bill: $164.23 per MonthI presently pay over $164/ mo for comprehensive coverage on my 2006 Chevy Uplander. This includes a Premier Plus discount for being accident-free for more than five years. My policy says I get a homeowner discount, but it’s not itemized, so I don’t think I’m actually receiving it. The total cost for six months is $1282.89, minus a $321.04 Premier Plus discount, so it’s $961.85 after. My current bill due is $164.23 for this month. Estimated Allstate Bill with Drivewise: $125.74 per MonthDrivewise will knock 3% off my bill just for using it, so that’s $38.49 over six months or $6.42 monthly. If I qualify for the full 15% discount for good driving, that’s $192.43 over six months or $32.07 monthly cash back, but they only give it back at the end of six months. In any case, I’m tabulating it as if it was part of a monthly discount even though it’s really not, meaning Drivewise could save me as much as $38.49 per month, bringing my bill to $125.74. Estimated Car Insurance Bill with Root: $60-80I’ve been scouring the net and haven’t found many people who actually say what their Root quote was. That said, most who do place their new bills between $60-80 each month for comprehensive coverage. I don’t yet know if it’s the exact same coverage, nor have I been offered a quote by Root yet, but it seriously looks like I could cut my bill by $100 per month over what I pay now, and about $45 less over the best Allstate could give me. Follow My Root Car Insurance Journey or Share Your StoryAs I write this, I’m still in the beginning stages of my Root test drive. I don’t know how it will turn out or whether I’ll even get a quote. However, I’ll keep sharing as I go.
I’m also glad to share your story too. If you’ve had an experience with Root, Allstate, or a similar product, click “Share Your Story” in the main menu and we just might feature it as a guest post. If this is your first stop-off on this site, I should mention first that my testing of Allstate’s Drivewise program was totally unexpected. I’m a lifelong Allstate customer who had no idea the product existed until after I downloaded the Root car insurance app to see about switching. So, on my second active day of my Root test drive period, I decided to download the Allstate app as well and see how the two compare. I’ll get into that stuff more as I go, so for now, I’m just going to cover how Allstate Drivewise works. Customers and Non-Customers Can Download the AppInstead of having a separate app for the Drivewise program, Allstate worked the tech into their regular app. You can download it for iOS or Android. Because I was already an Allstate customer, all I had to do was input my login info and the app let me start right away. If you aren’t already a customer or don’t use their online features, you’ll have to set up an account. Drivewise has a Robust Set of FeaturesI’ll do a comparison later, but the Allstate Drivewise app has a lot going on. It seems to use the same core tech as Root does and tracks you while you drive. If you’re an Allstate customer, you’ll automatically get 3% off your bill for using Drivewise and sticking with it. If you demonstrate you’re a good driver, you get up to 15% cash back after 50 trips, then it’s tabulated every six months. Good driving and completing challenges (such as not braking hard for three days) also lets you earn points, which you can use on daily deal, gift cards, and what seemingly appears to be a bunch of overpriced crap. It takes 24-48 hours to gain access to the rewards store, so I have yet to see anything beyond the daily deals, but my internet sleuthing says the stuff goes on auction and you bid with points. And, apparently, you’re never going to win an auction. Sorry… I’m not excited about the points. I mostly just want to save money on my car insurance. How Allstate Drivewise WorksThe Drivewise program monitors your driving in the background and checks your:
Find Out More on How Allstate Drivewise Works and Compares to RootIf you want to learn more about the Drivewise program, you can check out the Allstate website. I’ll also be testing it alongside the Root car insurance app and reporting back the results. If you’ve had a personal experience with either or something similar you’d like us to share, click “Share Your Story” on the main menu. |
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