COUNTRY Financial vs Root: which is better for car insurance in 2026?
Across our six scoring categories, COUNTRY Financial comes out ahead in 1, Root in 0, with 5 too close to call. There is no overall score to compare, though: Root does not publish enough of the underlying data to earn one, and we would rather leave it blank than build a number out of the two or three figures that happen to exist. COUNTRY Financial is the better-documented of the two, which is not the same as being the better insurer for you. Judge these two on the categories where both have real figures — and on what they actually quote you.
COUNTRY Financial vs Root, side by side
Sources: average premiums from NerdWallet's August 2026 rate analysis (Quadrant Information Services), for a 35-year-old driver with a clean record and good credit in a 2023 Toyota Camry LE at 12,000 miles a year, 100/300/50 limits with $1,000 deductibles — national average $2,356. Claims satisfaction from the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study (segment average 700). Complaint record from NerdWallet's analysis of NAIC complaint data, 2022–2024. Financial strength from AM Best. Discounts and app data from each carrier's published pages and the Apple App Store / Google Play, retrieved August 2026. Updated August 2026.
Category by category
Price
Too close to callRoot does not release public rate data, so there is no like-for-like premium to set against COUNTRY Financial's $2,976/yr. That is a real gap in the comparison, not a rounding error — treat Root's price as unknown until you have a quote in hand.
$2,976 a year for full coverage, 26% above the national average. COUNTRY is not competing on price.
Root is excluded from the rate study we use for every other carrier, because its pricing model does not fit a standard benchmark — your quote depends on a driving test, not a profile.
Claims satisfaction
Too close to callNeither pulls ahead on claims satisfaction: COUNTRY Financial posts Not rated and Root Not rated, a difference too small to choose on.
Not in the J.D. Power claims study, which samples only the largest insurers.
Not in the J.D. Power claims study, which samples only the largest insurers.
Complaint record
COUNTRY Financial aheadCOUNTRY Financial takes complaint record on Far fewer than expected against Root's Far more than expected.
Far fewer complaints than expected for its size — the strongest band we assign, and COUNTRY's single best measure.
Far more complaints than expected for its size.
Financial strength
Too close to callNeither pulls ahead on financial strength: COUNTRY Financial posts Not published and Root Not published, a difference too small to choose on.
An A+ rating circulates widely, but COUNTRY's own newsroom is blocked to automated access and AM Best's site is too, so we could not read it from a primary page. We would rather show nothing than a rating we did not verify.
No AM Best rating, and Demotech lists it as not rated. No independent assessment of its ability to pay claims is available — the single most important thing to know about Root.
Discounts
Too close to callNeither pulls ahead on discounts: COUNTRY Financial posts 10 published and Root Not published, a difference too small to choose on.
Around ten discounts, including an unusual engaged-or-newly-married discount for drivers aged 21 to 29, plus the DriverIQ telematics program.
No discount list we could read on Root's own site.
Digital experience
Too close to callNeither pulls ahead on digital experience: COUNTRY Financial posts 3.46 iOS / 2.9 Android and Root Not published, a difference too small to choose on.
3.46 on the App Store and 2.92 on Google Play — poor on both. Curiously, the separate DriverIQ telematics app rates 4.55, so the weakness is in policy servicing rather than engineering.
No app-store figures we could verify from a primary source.
So which one?
Pick COUNTRY Financial if…
- You are among drivers who want a local agent and rarely open an app.
- You want the lower complaint record — COUNTRY Financial sits at Far fewer than expected.
- Availability fits: 19 states, and not only the Midwest — Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington are all in it.
Pick Root if…
- You are among confident drivers willing to be monitored before being quoted.
- Availability fits: 37 states.
COUNTRY Financial vs Root, answered
The questions people ask before switching between these two.
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Averages are a starting point. Your rate is the only number that decides it.