The Novo Safety Program is different from other insurance products available in the industry because premiums change from month to month based on your actual driving behavior instead of remaining constant, only to go either up or down at renewal. We call this “real-time” insurance since the monthly premiums continually adapt to your driving style. Novo factors in behaviors such as acceleration, braking, and speeding in addition to how many miles you drive — all obtained straight from your connected vehicle or mobile phone. This gives you more control over your expenses by allowing you to save more when you drive safer. The higher your Safety Score is each month, the lower your monthly rate will be in the corresponding bill (assuming a similar amount of miles driven), though your rate may also increase with risky driving. There is no need to wait 6 months to see your driving reflected in your premium, like at other insurers. When you reduce the risk of an accident, we both win. We want to reward you for driving safer by offering more savings on your auto insurance.

In states where the Novo Safety Program is available, you must have at least one Bluetooth-equipped vehicle to participate. Most models 2009 and later are eligible, and as long as this requirement is met, you may also include other vehicles that are not equipped with Bluetooth. All vehicles must have a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) under 12,000 lbs. Our quoting experience will confirm based on the VINs entered that the combination of cars is compatible.

After you purchase a policy, the premium for the first 2 months will be locked in. If you have at least 30 days of historical driving data that we are able to access, your enrollment Safety Score for these 2 months will be based on that driving behavior. Otherwise, you will be provided with a default enrollment score with a discounted rate. After 5 eligible trips, Novo will utilize your driving behavior to begin calculating your initial Safety Score as a policyholder on a scale of 1 to 100. This Safety Score will be used to determine your premiums after the first 2 months. The higher your score, the lower your premium will be. However, a lower score can result in increased premiums. Month 3 will be the first month that is impacted by changes in your Safety Score based on driving behavior collected during month 1 of your policy. Then month 4’s premium is impacted by the Safety Score from month 2, and so on. There is always a 2-month gap between the Safety Score and the premium associated with that score so that drivers will have at least 30 days’ notice of any change in premium. Premiums may increase or decrease by as much as 60% or 38%, respectively, from one month to the next once you have established your first monthly Safety Score. However, most policyholders will see much smaller fluctuations in their month-to-month premiums.

Novo’s Safety Score is our way of measuring your driving performance. It is dependent on 2 inputs: how you drive and how far you drive. Events that we consider risky will lower your score while trips without these will increase it. You are not penalized simply for driving longer distances but instead measured on how many risky events occur per mile driven. The Novo Safety Program utilizes the Safety Score to determine the monthly cost of insurance for those enrolled. Changes in your estimated annual mileage may also impact your rate.

We consider 3 factors per mile driven for our Safety Score: hard braking, rapid acceleration, and high speed. Hard braking is defined as decelerating at more than 8 mph per second. Rapid acceleration occurs when accelerating over 7 mph per second. High speed is declared when traveling at a rate above 80 mph. Novo encourages you to obey all traffic laws.