Hugo Auto Insurance: User Reviews and Quotes (2025)

Hugo is a relatively new car insurance company with a product that’s unique in the auto insurance industry. Hugo offers flexible, short-term car insurance.

You can buy coverage for as little as three days at a time, paying smaller amounts more frequently instead of all at once. There’s no down payment or up-front fees, and you can activate your policy instantly for fast proof of insurance.

Unfortunately, this car insurance company only issues policies in 13 U.S. states, and it only sells state-minimum coverage policies. Here’s a closer look at how Hugo car insurance works.

How Hugo insurance works

As of July 2024, Hugo offers one coverage option: Unlimited Basic. Hugo’s basic plan meets state-minimum liability insurance coverage requirements and is available in 13 states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

You can buy coverage for three-day, seven-day, 14-day, 30-day, and six-month periods, adding as little as three days of coverage at a time and paying in “micropayments.” After creating an account, you deposit funds based on the payment schedule of your choosing.

If your account runs empty, Hugo will extend your coverage for up to three days to give you time to reload. You must request an extension within a week of hitting empty, and once it’s complete, Hugo will charge you for the days covered under the extension.

Besides the brief extension, you only have coverage if your policy is active and you have funds in your account. Failing to maintain coverage could jeopardize your vehicle registration and lead to higher insurance rates the next time you buy coverage. If you choose to cancel coverage, you can easily withdraw the remaining funds for any extra days through the Hugo website.

Compare Quotes

User Reviews	4.1 57 reviews
IQ Score The Insurify Quality (IQ) Score uses more than 15 criteria to objectively rate insurance companies on a one-to-ten scale. The Insurify editorial team researches insurer data to determine the final scores.	7 /10
Liability Only Liability-only insurance, sometimes called minimum-coverage insurance, pays for bodily injury and property damage to others in an accident the policyholder causes. It does not pay for the insured’s own damages.	$209/mo

Hide Details

Driver Reviews

4.1

Best choiceBased on 143 verified guest reviews and ratings

How drivers feel about Hugo

Drivers appreciate the pay-as-you-go option and affordability but dislike the lack of full coverage and poor customer service.

AI-generated from the text of verified reviews collected by Insurify

Best For

Micropayments

No down payments

Fast coverage

How drivers feel about Hugo

Drivers appreciate the pay-as-you-go option and affordability but dislike the lack of full coverage and poor customer service.

AI-generated from the text of verified reviews collected by Insurify

Best For

Micropayments

No down payments

Fast coverage

Reviews (57)

Andrea

April 15, 2025

Verified Review

Excellent

Hugo is awesome.

Donna

April 2, 2025

Verified Review

No Thanks

In my experience, Hugo is an option for people who are struggling. However, it seems to exploit those who are struggling because the insurance only covers the minimum requirements. This means that the policyholder will be fully responsible and have to pay out of pocket for anything that goes wrong with the vehicle.

Rebekah

March 18, 2025

Verified Review

Never Able to Speak with Customer Service, So I Switched!

I was never able to speak with someone, so I switched!

Previous

1234…19

NextSee all Hugo reviews

Our Advice

JD Power

J.D. Power data measures overall customer satisfaction and claims satisfaction based on a 1,000-point scale.

NR

NAIC Index

Average amount of customer complaints relative to competitors on a 0-5 scale. A lower score represents fewer complaints.

NR

A.M. Best

A.M. Best analyzes an insurer’s financials, operating performance, business profile, and other factors to generate an opinion-based rating of a company’s financial and credit strength. Ratings range from A++ (exceptional) to D (poor).

NR

Why we picked this company

Hugo launched in 2021 and is currently the only insurance company offering on-demand car insurance. Drivers can open a Hugo account without paying a down payment up front. Drivers can choose a policy term of three, seven, 14, or 30 days, or six months, and policyholders can pay smaller amounts more frequently instead of all at once. Drivers also receive instant proof of insurance. Hugo currently only offers state-minimum liability coverage in 13 states. J.D. Power and AM Best have not yet evaluated Hugo’s customer satisfaction or financial strength.

Pros

• Short-term policies

• No up-front down payment required

• Flexible, pay-as-you-go insurance

Cons

• Only available in 13 states

• Doesn’t offer collision or comprehensive coverage

• No discounts available

Is Hugo right for you?

Hugo could be a good option if you’re looking for basic liability coverage with flexible micropayments or short-term coverage. The company also offers medical payments coverage (MedPay) in most states where it operates. Liability-only coverage might not be right for many drivers, so make sure you understand the policy before you buy it.

Most states require drivers to have minimum coverage to register a car, and Hugo provides rapid proof of insurance. If you want to pay for just a few days and let coverage lapse, keep in mind the state can revoke your registration. Drivers could also face a 9% rate increase after an insurance lapse of less than 30 days, according to Insurify data and analysis.

If you don’t need the flexibility of micropayments and intend to remain insured for longer periods, you might find the best rates with traditional insurers. If you lease or finance your car, your lender or leasing company will require you to protect the vehicle with full-coverage car insurance, which Hugo doesn’t offer.

Find Affordable Car Insurance

Save up to $852 annually when you compare rates with Insurify

Enter your ZIP codeView My Quotes

Secure. Free. Easy-to-use.

Based on 3,806+ reviews

4.8/5

How to turn car insurance on and off with Hugo

You can no longer turn your Hugo coverage on and off without facing consequences. Hugo used to offer a Flex plan that included that feature but currently only offers its Unlimited Basic plan: state-minimum liability coverage you can buy in small increments with no down payment or fees up front.

Turning your coverage off with Hugo’s available plan is effectively canceling your coverage. If you let your coverage lapse, Hugo may have to notify your state’s motor vehicle department, which could revoke your registration. If you want to cancel your coverage to switch to another plan, you can withdraw any unused funds left in your Hugo account.

How Hugo compares to other insurance companies

Hugo’s Unlimited Basic plan offers coverage that meets state-minimum liability requirements. It’s the only insurer offering policies as short as three days. Hugo doesn’t currently offer full-coverage insurance.

Unlike some pay-per-mile insurers, like Metromile, Hugo doesn’t use a telematics system to monitor your driving behaviors. While telematics programs can help safe drivers save money, policyholders may also experience rate increases for sharp turns or hard braking.

Hugo offers only two discounts, it’s not rated by industry-rating companies like AM Best, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has no information on the company.

Factor	How Hugo Compares
Rates	Monthly rates are above the national average, but drivers can split them up with micropayments
Customer service	More positive reviews on Trustpilot than many competitors
Discounts	Doesn’t offer discounts commonly available from other insurers
Availability	Very limited availability compared to competitors — Hugo’s only available in 13 states
Financial strength	Difficult to predict — AM Best hasn’t rated Hugo for financial strength

How drivers feel about Hugo

AM Best, J.D. Power, and the NAIC don’t have ratings or customer complaint information for Hugo, but Insurify has collected reviews from Hugo customers. You can also check sites like Trustpilot and even Reddit to find out what others say about the company.

Drivers describe an easy process and flexible product, and they appreciate the payment options and instant proof of insurance. Some wish Hugo offered full coverage and a smartphone app. A few drivers found the coverage too expensive and reported difficulty contacting a representative by phone.

Hugo has more than 22,500 reviews on Trustpilot and an overall rating of 4.8 stars (out of 5). A noteworthy 89% of those reviews are five-star, indicating a great experience, and just 2% are one-star reviews. It’s worth noting that Hugo replies to negative reviews on Trustpilot and attempts to either rectify the complaint or explain what happened to cause the problem.

Hugo customer reviews

Here are recent and verified customer reviews that Insurify has collected.

Hugo ratings

Third-party accreditation organizations like AM Best and J.D. Power have yet to rate Hugo, but other ratings for the company are available.

Rating	Score	What This Means
IQ Score	7.0	An IQ Score of 7.0 is a modest score. Hugo earns this score largely due to its limited availability in only 13 states.
Trustpilot	4.8 stars (out of 5)	An excellent score indicates a high level of reviewer satisfaction.
Better Business Bureau (BBB)	Not Rated (NR)	The BBB hasn’t accredited Hugo.
Yelp	1 star (out of 5)	Hugo has only eight reviews on Yelp. All are one-star reviews.

• How Insurify rates insurance companies

  Our editorial team spent more than 350 hours developing the Insurify Quality (IQ) Score and scoring insurance companies. The IQ Score objectively analyzes and calculates a score for insurers using more than 15 crucial criteria. The team weighted criteria by importance to the consumer — factors such as customer reviews and affordability influence the score more than availability and third-party ratings.

  We rate each company on a 1 to 10 scale based on five categories: financial ratings, customer satisfaction, affordability, customer support and transparency, and availability. Insurify updates ratings once a year or as more recent information becomes available.

  • Third-party financial ratings: Insurify uses data from AM Best, S&P, Moody’s, and more to compare insurance companies’ credit and ability to pay out future claims.
  • Customer satisfaction: To calculate this score, Insurify analyzed more than 55,000 customer reviews across 155 car insurance companies. We also consider third-party ratings from J.D. Power, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and Trustpilot.
  • Affordability: Our data scientists analyzed more than 90 million real-time auto insurance rates from our partners across the U.S., as well as available discounts, to calculate an affordability score.
  • Customer support and transparency: This measures coverage options, ease of claims filing, and the insurer's transparency surrounding discounts, coverages, and claims process.
  • Availability and reach: Insurify scores availability and reach by identifying the number of states in which insurers offer coverage and company size by market share.

Average cost of Hugo auto insurance

Hugo’s rates can vary significantly depending on the state where you live and other factors.

Hugo’s monthly average is $209 per Insurify data, though drivers with Hugo are likely splitting up that cost into numerous micropayments. The national monthly average for liability coverage is $105, so Hugo isn’t the cheapest option if you can afford the more significant monthly payments.

Hugo’s rates, like others, vary based on factors like age, gender, location, and driving record. Teenagers and drivers with moving violations like DUIs or at-fault accidents typically pay higher rates, and Hugo’s average quotes reflect that.

The following table illustrates how Hugo’s minimum-coverage rates can vary based on driver factors. This table reflects the average monthly quote, which doesn’t have to be paid all at once.

Driver	Hugo’s Average Monthly Quote	National Average Monthly Quote
Drivers with a clean record	$209	$105
Drivers with a speeding ticket	$243	$268
Drivers with an at-fault accident	$295	$277
Drivers with a DUI	$337	$316
Teen drivers	$316	$374
Senior drivers	$163	$153

Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.

How Hugo rates compare to competitors

Hugo’s best feature is its flexibility. You can buy and pay for only three days at a time, spreading out the premium into multiple micropayments.

It’s important to note, though, that if your leasing company or lender requires full coverage as part of your leasing or financing agreement, Hugo’s Unlimited Basic plan won’t offer enough coverage.

Here’s how Hugo’s monthly liability-only rates compare to some top competitors.

Hugo car insurance costs by state

Location affects car insurance rates significantly because where you live can influence how likely you are to file a claim. For example, if your town has a lot of traffic congestion, you may be more likely to get into an accident.

Here’s how location affects Hugo’s average monthly quotes for liability coverage in some of the states where it’s available.

State	Hugo’s Average Monthly Quote	State Average Monthly Liability-Only Quote
Florida	$367	$150
Georgia	$279	$157
Illinois	$150	$81
Ohio	$105	$72
Texas	$244	$121

Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile. Hugo is also available in Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. These states are omitted from this table due to insufficient rate data.

Hugo Insurance FAQs