ComplaintsforRoot

• Initial Complaint

  06/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our car was totaled by a Root Insurance insured vehicle on 4/24/21. In addition, the driver damaged 3 other cars. I provided the police report to Root Insurance, identifying all the vehicle owners IN April 2021. After more than 6 weeks they have just now attempted to reach those other drivers and continue to use that as an excuse not to pay us. It has been more than 6 weeks and we have not received one dime. Every time I ask when they will decide and pay they tell me there is no way to know. They never provide updates like they are supposed to and they have literally wasted time they could have used to contact the other owners so they can force me to surrender my vehicle to the junk yard because of the storage fees. They know if the charges get too high I will be forced to surrender it and if I don't own it, they no longer have to honor our claim.

  

  Business response

  06/22/2021

  Thank you for bringing the concerns of Complainant **** ***** (“Complainant”) to our attention. Root Insurance Company (“Root” or “the Company”) appreciates the opportunity to review this matter. 

  As a threshold matter, the Complainant’s concern surrounds a delay in claim handling. While we have completed our coverage investigation, we are currently waiting on the determination of all of the damages. This is due to the existence of a total of four competing claimants involved in this loss. 

  Yours truly, 

  **********

  ###-###-####

  
  

  Customer response

  06/22/2021

  this is the same thing they have been saying for two months "we are working on it". Just once could someone give me a timeline? Just once could someone commit to make a decision by a certain date? You can't just keep this open and "work on it" forever. It has been 60 days-could you live without a car for 60 days?
  
  Regards,
  **** *****

  

  Business response

  06/25/2021

  Please allow this to serve as a response to the rebuttal from Complainant **** ***** (“Complainant”). Root Insurance Company (“Root” or “the Company”) appreciates the opportunity to review this matter. 

  Please be aware that we are unable to provide a timeline to settle the Complainant’s claim. As previously explained, we are currently waiting on the determination of all of the damages from all four of the potential claimants involved in this loss. Our duty is to attempt settlement of all damages within our Insured’s policy limits. 

  Yours truly, 

  *************

  Compliance Manager - Claims 

  | ###-###-####

  
  

  Customer response

  06/28/2021

  [If you do not say why you are rejecting the company's response, BBB must close your complaint.] 
  
  Complaint: 15565749
  
  I am rejecting this response because: they can't just leave me unpaid indefinitely because they will not commit to a deadline. All parties but one have been reached and it has been MORE than 60 days since the damage occurred. There have been numerous attempts to reach the 4th party without response. It is not fair to keep the other three of us waiting INDEFINITELY since Root will not commit to deadline/timeline. You cannot tell me it is fair to make 3 people wait who knows who long???????? for the one other person that isn't responding. It is time to move along and take care of the three people that are here, that are responsive, that are WAITING.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** *****

• Initial Complaint

  06/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Payment increased by $161.02 a month. I sent several emails about my concerns with an insurance payment of $529.02. Initial response I was given was very unacceptable and unclear. I was contacted by customer support lead, ******* *. I was told that my safe driving discount as well as my accident free discount was removed from my policy. Neither my husband or I have been in any accidents, and our driving scores (through tracking) are consistently 8/10+. We were never notified in writing or via email that these discounts were being removed. I wanted to know why they were removed. In my second email to ******* *. my questions, again, were not answered. I sent 2 emails asking why applicable discounts were removed. That was over 3 weeks ago. I still have not heard back from anyone. Root sent 3 auto emails regarding my payment, and a strange one asking how my email was with ***** *. I haven’t received any emails from a ***** with Root. These unfair and deceptive practices need attention.

  

  Business response

  06/25/2021

  Thank you for bringing the concerns of Complainant ****** ******* (“Complainant”) to our attention. Root Insurance Company (“Root” or “the Company”) appreciates the opportunity to review this matter. 

  As a threshold matter, the Complainant’s concern surrounds an increase in premium. The increase occurred as the rate we had provided to the Complainant for prior policy periods contained errors that resulted in the Complainant being billed an amount lower than what should have been charged. When the system error was corrected, the Complainant was then charged the appropriate amount based on the underwriting data. 

  Yours truly, 

  ****** ****** | Compliance Manager - Claims 

  *******88

  ###-###-####

  Customer response

  06/29/2021

   my questions have not been answered directly. Once again, Root has managed to provide an unclear and unacceptable answer. I was never informed that there were “errors” in my billing. Instead, I received several different responses (none of them mention billing errors)  as to why my payment increased $161. None of the “responses” explained anything. When I asked questions about the reasoning, contact stopped. What were the errors? Why wasn’t I informed of these errors? Why has it taken almost 2 months and a report to the bbb to get any sort of response? Why have I been given several different answers? Why were my accident free and safe driving discounts removed when there were no accidents and our driving scores remained 8/10? I will state again that I believe these businesses practices are deceptive and unfair.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** *******

  

  Business response

  07/09/2021

  Thank you for bringing the concerns of Complainant ****** ******* (“Complainant”) to our attention. Root Insurance Company (“Root” or “the Company”) appreciates the opportunity to review this matter. 

  In response to the Complainant’s rebuttal, the increase occurred due to the existence of an accident on their driving history. This occurred prior to the Complainant’s policy inception with Root. The existence of this loss was not captured by our system initially, and there were discounts applied to their policy to which they otherwise did not meet the qualifications for that discount. 

  We do apologize that the issue was not explained to the Complainant to their satisfaction. It is important to note that the discount errors did not have a negative impact on the Complainant’s premium. Instead, the errors provided a rate that was discounted inappropriately. 

  Yours truly, 

  ********** Compliance Manager - Claims 

  ###-###-####

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/05/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We transferred from Root insurance to *********** on 4/26/2021 for car insurance on our two vehicles. *********** contacted Root, as they do with any change of insurance. Root withdrew our premium again on 5/18/21. I emailed them twice about discontinuing coverage. Finally, I got a response from my second email listing the information they require for me to cancel. I sent them everything they asked for, even my new insurance cards verifying my new dates of coverage. I got another email from Root telling me they would not discontinue my insurance until contacted by ***********. This already happened back in April! I want this coverage stopped and a prorated refund to the date of our new insurance coverage.

  

  Business response

  06/10/2021

  Thank you for bringing the concerns of Complainant **** ***** ************ (“Complainant”) to our attention. Root Insurance Company (“Root” or “the Company”) appreciates the opportunity to review this matter. 

  As a threshold matter, the Complainant’s concern surrounds difficulty cancelling their policy. We are pleased to report that the policy has been cancelled pursuant to the Complainant’s request and a refund issued for the difference in premium. 

  Yours truly, 

  ****** ****** | Compliance Manager - Claims 

  ###-###-####

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed a binding contract with Root to be full insured by them for my new vehicle. They backhandedly added a feature to track my driving, BUT, not only did it do that, I was NOT informed that they would cancel my insurance if it didn't meet certain standards. I requested a full refund and they refused any refund at all. They breached the contract that i signed when i paid them.

  

  Business response

  06/09/2021

  Thank you for bringing the concerns of Complainant ***** ******* (“Complainant”) to our attention. Root Insurance Company (“Root” or “the Company”) appreciates the opportunity to review this matter. 

  As a threshold matter, the Complainant’s concern surrounds the underwriting cancellation of their policy. 

  The Complainant purchased their policy through the Root Mobile Application (“App”) on May 7, 2021 with an introductory monthly premium amount conditioned on completing their Test Drive and achieving a minimum required telematics score. Over the course of the Test Drive, the App measured things like braking, miles driven, turns, and smoothness. Any commercial driving use may negatively affect the telematics score. Initial payment was received and the policy became effective May 7, 2021. The Complainant’s Test Drive began at that time. 

  When the test drive ended on May 23, 2021, 2021, Root advised the Complainant through the App, mail, and email that based on their telematics

  scores, Root would no longer be able to offer the Complainant insurance after June 8, 2021 and that the policy would be cancelled on that date. The cancellation notice was properly sent and provided the Complainant with the specific reason for cancellation was a failure to meet the minimum telematics score. 

  If you have additional questions or require additional documentation, please contact the undersigned. 

  Yours truly, 

  ****** ****** 

  Compliance Manager - Claims 

   ***********

  ###-###-####

  
  

  Customer response

  06/09/2021

   

  1. They are unable to address me by my name (**** ** ***********?)

  2. Cannot provide a valid reason why AFTER the policy has started, that they have the right to cancel a policy based on a VOLUNTARY feature through the app.

  3. The disregard and disrespect shown are unacceptable and contrary to what they advertise.

  4. After multiple attempts to contact ROOT, I finally did and they were unable to provide me with a valid reason to not refund me, for their own violation of our binding contract, which started on the day they accepted my payment for services.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

  

  Business response

  06/18/2021

  This letter will serve as a response to your correspondence dated June 9, 2021. Root Insurance Company (“Root” or “the Company”) appreciates the opportunity to review this matter. 

  Upon review of the Complainant’s policy, no refund would be warranted. The policy was in force from the inception date of May 7, 2021 until the termination date of June 8, 2021. Since there was an active policy with coverage in place 

  during this time period, there would not be any refund of premium for this coverage period. 

  Yours truly, 

  ****** ****** | Compliance Manager - Claims 

  | ###-###-####

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩