Partner Interview
Published December 9, 2025
Carvana: Root & Embedded Insurance Moat
inpractise.com/articles/carvana-root-and-embedded-insurance-moat
Executive Bio
Former Senior Executive at Root
Summary
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Interview Transcript
Disclaimer: This interview is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. In Practise is an independent publisher and all opinions expressed by guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of In Practise.
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Tell me about the Carvana and Root relationship and how it came to be. Ultimately, I'd love to understand more about it. I'll admit, I might do what I often criticize my analysts for. My intuition is that selling car insurance during a used car transaction is a brilliant idea. You're not adversely selected by people shopping for insurance due to a rate increase or those rapidly switching insurance for a reason. They're buying a car, so you can gather more data with relatively low friction because you're handling the loan and vehicle verification. This allows you to collect more information without adverse selection, which is beneficial. You know everything about the car, which presumably improves underwriting on the margin because you know the car's value precisely. Bringing all this together, it seems like an ideal moment to sell insurance. It seems beneficial for Carvana and Root Insurance, but it isn't huge. Could you provide some insight into the size it actually reached, the attach rates, and potential growth?
So, who needs insurance at the dealership? Typically, it's the worst customers who don't already have insurance. Historically, dealer business has been bad because these customers often don't have coverage from the better carriers. Carvana, however, is in a different position. They can seamlessly offer insurance to all their customers, not just those who need it. In a regular dealership, they might not want to spend time discussing insurance if the customer already has Progressive or Allstate. They just want to sell the car. Carvana, on the other hand, needs to collect insurance information to deliver the car. They have the opportunity to offer a quote quickly because they start the process earlier. It's almost instantaneous for the customer. Carvana can show a quote that might be cheaper than the customer's current insurance, even if they weren't initially shopping for it. This creates shoppers in a market that typically doesn't have them. Carvana's model and offer are powerful because they can present a $750 insurance option directly to the customer. Root Insurance was chosen as the solution for Carvana because, at the time, Root was only in 35 states, whereas Carvana preferred to have a partner like Progressive or Allstate, which are available in all states. Root had two advantages - firstly they were broad underwriting based. Root would write non-standard customers and preferred customers. And secondly, they had their seamless 45-second quote API. Allstate and State Farm physically were not able to deliver a quote live, they could only deliver a quote through an agency portal which didn't have an API. Additionally, State Farm would reject a number of customers because they were non-standard. Root's API and ability to write all risks made them an attractive partner for Carvana, allowing them to create shoppers and present insurance options even when customers weren't actively looking.
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