The short answer - Novo considers how your car is driven as a factor in your price, alongside other rating factors every insurer uses. The way you drive builds a Safety Score for each vehicle from three things (acceleration, braking, and speeding) and everyone who drives the car counts toward it.
On Novo Flex, the score adjusts your price monthly (with a two-month lag); on Novo Next, it counts toward your renewal; on Novo Classic, it never affects the price.
As we discussed in our last blogpost, most insurance pricing is a “black box” with a bill attached. You get a number, the number changes at renewal, and the explanation (if there ever is one) is some version of "rates went up in your area" or even less context than that.
We drivers deserve a clearer, straighter answer than that. So here it is…how Novo actually builds your price, what counts, what doesn't, how safe driving gets rewarded along the way, and what you can see as it happens.
Like most insurers, Novo's rates are built on several widely used, regulated rating factors. These are the ones filed with state regulators and used across most of the industry. That part isn't different, and we won't pretend otherwise.
The difference is what else counts…safe driving, accurately measured. Alongside the standard factors every insurer uses, the way your car is driven counts toward your price too. A ZIP code and a birth year describe people who look roughly like you on paper. Driving is the behavior that's in the car with you, and is the real source of insurance risk. At Novo, it's also part of the price you pay, which gives you a real say in what you pay.
https://novo.us/blogs/why-car-insurance-rates-rise-in-arizona
The way your car is driven builds a Safety Score…your car's driving score, built from three things, including acceleration, braking, and speeding. That's the whole list, and we make it transparently visible inside the Novo app, so a price change is never a surprise.
Two details are important about the way we price, because they're the ones other insurers blur:
• The score belongs to the car, not to the person. It reflects how the car is driven, whoever is driving it. Everyone who drives the car contributes to its score. That's why we say "your car," not"you." Your score is shared by all the drivers in the household who use the same vehicle, and it's visible in the app so the household can all see it together.
• The app shows you your score and what behaviors moved it. Your score, your trips, and what shifted your price are all there. We won't claim it shows you the formula behind your rate (no insurance company does), but the part of your price built on driving is the part you can actually see changing as your behaviors change.
The Safety Score is the part of your price you can actually do something about. What it does to your price depends entirely on which plan you pick:
• Novo Next, which is a six-month term that offers a discount from the time you buy your policy. How the car is driven counts toward each renewal price…safe driving can lower it, while riskier driving can raise it.
• Novo Flex, which is a plan that adjusts your price monthly based on how the car is driven, with a two-month lag shown in the app (meaning June's driving shapes your August bill).
• Novo Classic, which is a fixed six-month price. Driving never changes it. Share driving insights and you keep a Driving Insights discount; opt out of data sharing entirely and you have a standard policy without the discount. The discount is the trade for sharing insights about how the vehicle is driven.
You choose how much your driving counts toward your price. If you want driving to count at renewal, that's Next. If you want it to count monthly, that's Flex. If you don’t want it to count as often or at all, that's Classic. There's no wrong answer…there’s just the answer that fits how you want insurance to behave.
Here's the part most telematics marketing won't say out loud…your price reflects how your car is driven, both ways.
On Novo Next, consistently poorly scored driving can raise the renewal price above the base rate, just as safe driving can lower it. On Novo Flex, the monthly price moves with the score in both directions. On Novo Classic, driving never changes the price.
Within your term, your price doesn't move…Next and Classic are fixed for the full six months, and Flex's monthly adjustment is shown in the app with a two-month lag. So you can see it coming. At renewal, the price reflects how the car was driven, for good or for ill.
If a pricing program only ever mentions the benefits, the first increase feels like a betrayal. We'd rather say it plainly…the score counts honestly, and what's moving your price is visible right in the Novo App.
Unlike programs that make you wait weeks to earn a discount, Novo recognizes safe driving at signup. Eligible Novo drivers get a discount from day one, with no waiting period. After that, you drive normally, the Novo app does the measuring, and your plan determines how driving shapes your price from there.
If you'd rather see your score before you buy anything, the Novo Test Drive is a free, no-obligation way for Arizona drivers to build a real Safety Score before buying. After about 5 trips or 200 miles over roughly 30 days, you'll see an estimated rate as you drive, and a personalized quote once your score qualifies. And if you don't want to do a test drive, that’s ok…eligible drivers can get a discount at signup with no waiting period.
So what does "rewarding safe drivers" actually mean at Novo? Three things, and none of them are hidden in the fine print:
• A discount from day one. Safe driving is recognized from the day you sign up, not after a probation period. The safest drivers qualify for the deepest signup discounts, and the discounts you qualify for are shown when you quote.
• Safe driving keeps counting after signup. On Novo Next, safe driving counts toward a lower renewal price. On Novo Flex, it counts month by month, so a good stretch of driving shows up on the bill two months later. On Novo Classic, sharing driving insights keeps a Driving Insights discount on a price that otherwise never moves.
• You can see it working. Your Safety Score, your trips, and what moved your price are all visible in the Novo app…so the reward isn't a mystery number on a renewal notice, it's something you can see build, trip by trip.
One honest footnote, because it matters…the same score that lowers a price can raise one. Recognition is the point, but the score counts in both directions on Next and Flex, and we'd rather you hear that from us than from a renewal notice. (That's the whole reason Novo Classic exists for drivers who'd rather driving never touched their price at all.)
Safe driving can lower your price, and the safest drivers qualify for the deepest signup discounts. Discounts vary by plan and driver, and when you quote, the discounts you qualify for are shown, not guessed at or hidden. That's what rewarding safe drivers looks like in practice…the discount follows the driving, and you see it before you buy.
With your permission, the app collects driving data and uses it to rate and service your policy. Your Safety Score itself is built from three things…acceleration, braking, and speeding. How data is collected and shared is spelled out in plain terms when you opt in, and it isn't used to target you with ads without your documented consent.
Nothing about your price is hidden.
That's the deal, stated plainly…measurement is what lets a good driver be priced on their own driving, not the average. And the measurement comes with a consent screen, not fine print.
Pricing you as an individual only works if you can see it working. That's what the Safety Score is for: your rate, traced back to real driving and the part of your price you can actually do something about. Safe driving is recognized from the day you sign up, and it keeps counting from there.
https://quote.novo.us/basic-info/name?initialInfoFallback=organic_route
How does Novo pricing work?
Novo counts how your car is driven toward your price, alongside the standard rating factors every insurer uses. Driving builds a vehicle-level Safety Score from three things —acceleration, braking, and speeding — and everyone who drives the car counts toward it. On Novo Flex, the score adjusts your price monthly (with a two-month lag); on Novo Next, it counts toward your renewal in both directions; on NovoClassic, it never affects price.
What's the difference betweenNovo Next, Flex, and Classic?
• Novo Next — a six-month term with a discount from signup. How the car is driven counts toward each renewal price: safe driving can lower it, riskier driving can raise it.
• Novo Flex — your price adjusts monthly based on how the car is driven, with a two-month lag shown in the app (June's driving shapes your August bill).
• Novo Classic — a fixed six-month price. Driving never changes it. Share driving insights and you keep a Driving Insights discount; opt out of data sharing entirely and you have a standard policy without the discount — the discount is the trade for sharing insights.
You choose how much your driving counts.
Does Novo raise rates for bad driving?
It can, and we say so plainly:your price reflects how your car is driven, both ways. On Novo Next, consistently poorly-scored driving can raise the renewal price above the base rate, just as safe driving can lower it. On Novo Flex, the monthly price moves with the score in both directions. On Novo Classic, driving never changes the price. There are no surprises — your score and what's moving your price are visible in the app.
Does my spouse's or other drivers' driving affect my price?
The Safety Score is measured at the vehicle level — it reflects how the car is driven, whoever is driving.Everyone who drives the car contributes to its score.
How much can I save withNovo?
Safe driving can lower your price, and the safest drivers qualify for the deepest signup discounts.Discounts vary by plan and driver.
[GATED: upgrade to "up to 55% for drivers with a qualifying score" on OI-002 filing — sync verbatim with canonicalFAQ when it upgrades]
Will my rate change month to month?
Only if you choose that. On NovoNext and Novo Classic, your price is fixed for the six-month term. On NovoFlex, the price adjusts monthly with a two-month lag you can see coming in the app — this month's driving shows up two bills later.
Is Novo pay-per-mile insurance?
No. Novo is built around theSafety Score — how safely the car is driven. Mileage is one input in the data, but it isn't the product.
Does Novo reward safe drivers?
Yes, and it starts at signup. Novo recognizes safe driving from day one with a discount and no waiting period, the safest drivers qualify for the deepest signup discounts, and on Novo Next and Novo Flex safe driving keeps counting toward a lower price after that. The same score counts in both directions, and it's visible in the Novo app.
