Novo Auto Insurance Review: Ratings and Quotes (2024)

Drivers who want affordable car insurance through a fully digital insurer can look to Novo for liability-only and full-coverage policies.

Nick Dauk
Written byNick Dauk
Nick Dauk
Nick Dauk
  • 6+ years writing about insurance, travel, and personal finances

  • Contributor to brands like Credible

In addition to insurance, Nick specializes in writing about business, entrepreneurship, personal finance, and travel. He’s been featured in myriad web publications, including Fox Business.

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Courtney Mikulski
Courtney MikulskiSenior Editor, Auto
  • 3+ years producing insurance and personal finance content

  • Main architect of the Insurify Quality Score

Courtney’s deep personal finance knowledge extends beyond insurance to credit cards, consumer lending, and banking. She thrives on creating actionable content.

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Updated November 15, 2023

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Novo is an online-only insurance company that offers drivers with clean driving records low premium incentives through discount programs.

The company is part of Telenav, which has provided navigation and location-based services since 1999. Novo leverages this kind of technology to track driver habits, which can lower premiums for good drivers.

Here’s everything you need to know about Novo Auto Insurance when you’re comparison shopping for car insurance.

Quick Facts
  • The average cost of a Novo car insurance policy is $84 per month for liability only and $124 per month for full coverage.

  • The Novo Drive telematics program offers discounts of up to 30%.

  • Novo doesn’t offer SR-22 insurance yet.

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What is Novo auto insurance?

Novo is an online auto insurer that Telenav owns. And 21st Century Insurance, which is a member of the Farmers Insurance Group, underwrites Novo’s policies. As a fully digital insurance tech, or insurtech, company, Novo is best for drivers who want a digital-first car insurance experience.

Novo cites “best-in-class coverage,” “high-octane perks,” and “techno-driven premiums” as its policyholder incentives. It offers both liability and full-coverage policies, eight eligible discounts for drivers, and the Novo Drive app, which can lower premiums by tracking driving habits via smartphone.

Novo pros and cons

Pros
  • Strong financial backing: 21st Century Insurance, a company with an “A” AM Best rating, underwrites Novo’s policies.

  • Multiple discounts and telematics program: Novo offers eight discounts and a usage-based program.

  • In-app bill pay and claim filing: Novo policyholders can pay their premiums and submit claims through the Novo app.

Cons
  • Not available everywhere: Currently, Novo is only available in a handful of states.

  • Limited optional insurance available: It only offers comprehensive, collision, and uninsured motorist coverage.

  • Not all discounts available in all states: Benefits can vary based on your location and other factors.

What is Novo Drive?

Novo Drive is a usage-based insurance program that Novo policyholders can enroll in to potentially lower their premiums. The program asks drivers to track their driving trips for 90 days via its mobile app. At the end of that period, Novo evaluates the driving habits and assesses a score to apply to the driver’s premium.

Novo Drive offers drivers an instant 10% policy discount for activating the app. Depending on their assessed score, drivers can save up to 30% at renewal. This could be beneficial for people who drive a limited amount of miles per week and want to save as much as possible on their rates.[1]

Average cost of Novo auto insurance

Novo’s car insurance costs $84 a month for liability-only insurance and $124 a month for full-coverage policies, on average. Both rates are lower than the national averages of $104 per month for liability only and $213 per month for full coverage.

Car insurance companies use many factors to determine premiums, including ZIP code, driving history, vehicle type, and the driving habits of people in your area.[2] Your rate may be more or less than Novo’s averages based on your unique driver profile.

Novo car insurance coverage

All insurers, including Novo, have to offer liability insurance that meets the states’ laws. To provide added protection, Novo also offers optional coverages, like collision and comprehensive, usually as part of a full-coverage policy. Here are the coverages Novo offers drivers:[3]

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/169fdfde11/liability-coverage.svg

    Collision coverage

    This covers damages to your vehicle when you hit another vehicle or stationary object, even if you’re at fault.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/665da91bf7/comprehensive-coverage.svg

    Comprehensive coverage

    This covers damages to your vehicle from non-collision events, such as vandalism, extreme weather, falling objects, and theft.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/4c9753bdbe/medical-payments.svg

    Underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage

    This covers your and your passengers’ medical bills if an uninsured motorist is at fault in your accident.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/5285c4cd74/uninsured-or-underinsured-motorist-coverage.svg

    Uninsured motorist property damage coverage

    This covers damage to your vehicle if an uninsured driver hits you.

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Novo car insurance cost by state

States have their own minimum car insurance requirements that all drivers must maintain to drive legally. These requirements vary from state to state, which is one reason why even liability-only coverage rates can differ among locations.

Other risk factors affect costs in different states, including rates of car vandalism and theft, weather and animal damage potential, rates of accidents in an area, and numbers of uninsured drivers on the road in your city.

Novo only offers car insurance in a few states; compare its average quotes for liability and full-coverage insurance in the table below.

StateAverage Quote: Full CoverageAverage Quote: Liability Only
Arizona$145$112
Indiana$101$74
Ohio$122$76
Tennessee$130$82
Utah$118$85
Wisconsin$131$78
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.

Novo auto insurance rates by driving history

Your driving history significantly affects your car insurance rates. Clean driving records tend to get the cheapest rates available, while incidents like speeding tickets usually increase your rates because speed is a major factor in fatal car crashes.[4] DUIs are especially costly, as they signal to insurance companies that you’re a high-risk driver and likely to file a claim.

The following table shows monthly averages for Novo car insurance for drivers with clean records, speeding tickets, at-fault accidents, and DUIs.

Driving HistoryAverage Quote: Full CoverageAverage Quote: Liability Only
Clean record$116$78
With speeding ticket$155$105
With at-fault accident$165$112
With DUI$179$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.

Novo car insurance cost by age

Car insurance rates will fluctuate with your age, regardless of whether you have a clean or checkered driving history. For instance, teens are almost four times as likely to be in a fatal crash as drivers 20 and older.[5] Senior drivers also have higher fatal crash rates than middle-aged drivers. That’s why young drivers, including those on their parents’ auto insurance, will see their rates decrease as they reach age 35 then increase a second time around age 70.

The table below shows Novo’s average monthly quotes for different age groups.

Age GroupAverage Monthly Quote
Teens$209
20s$148
30s$117
40s$111
50s$97
60s$91
70s$92
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.

How to get a Novo car insurance quote from Insurify

To receive a quote for Novo car insurance from Insurify, follow these steps, and you’ll get a quote in minutes.

  1. Visit Insurify.com and enter your ZIP code.

  2. Select your car’s details from the prompted lists, such as year, make, and model.

  3. Enter information about who drives your car and what you use it for, including average mileage.

  4. Once you’re finished entering your information, you’ll view a list of offers from insurance companies available in your ZIP code.

  5. Compare insurers like Novo with other companies instantly to find the cheapest rate for your coverage needs.

Novo car insurance discounts

It’s no secret that car insurance can be quite expensive, even the more minimal coverages. Most insurers offer some type of discount most drivers could potentially qualify for, such as an accident-free discount or a discount when you pay your policy in full.

Here are the discounts Novo offers:

  • Paid-in-full: You can get a discount for paying your policy in full rather than monthly.

  • Good student: This is for students who maintain a specific GPA in school.

  • Distant student: Student drivers who go to school far away and leave their vehicle at home may qualify for a discount.

  • Paperless: You can get a discount for signing up for paperless billing and correspondence.

  • E-signature: This discount is for signing paperwork online instead of on physical documents.

  • Online quote: If you get your quote online or through the app, you can get a discount.

  • Safe driver: This discount is for drivers who remain accident- and incident-free.

  • Smart technology: Having smart technology in your vehicle can help lower your premiums.

Novo insurance bundling options

Novo only offers auto insurance policies; it doesn’t offer the opportunity to bundle other insurance products with its car insurance. This is a disadvantage for policyholders because bundling can reduce the cost of car insurance.

Novo insurance reviews and ratings

One of the best ways to get a sense of an insurance company’s reputation is to look at reviews and ratings from current and former policyholders. Websites like Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau, and even Google or Facebook can provide you with insight you won’t receive from an insurance agent.

Unfortunately, Novo has very few customer reviews to evaluate, with many being only about the use of its mobile app.

Novo customer reviews

As is the case with many insurers, reviews for Novo are mixed. The company has 3.8 rating on Trustpilot, where 58% of its reviews are 5-star.

While reviews on Trustpilot are largely positive, unhappy customers complained about a $50 cancelation fee. It's worth noting that policy cancellation fees are fairly common in car insurance.

The most reviews you’ll find for Novo are via Google Play, Google and the Apple App Store. Novo has a 4.5-star rating on Google, based on 35 reviews, and 4.3 stars in the Apple Store based on six reviews.

One review, however, echoes the Trustpilot review in that Novo allegedly charges a $50 policy cancellation fee.

Novo ratings

Novo doesn’t have a listing on the Better Business Bureau, nor does it have individual ratings through many agencies like AM Best or the NAIC Complaint Index. However, these ratings are very important for peace of mind when choosing an insurer, so we’ve listed what’s available for Novo’s underwriter, 21st Century Insurance Company, which is a Farmers Insurance Company:

  • AM Best: A

  • Standard & Poor’s: BBB+

  • Moody’s: A3

  • NAIC Complaint Index: 4.32

Novo vs. other insurance companies

No matter which state you live in, you likely have more than a dozen options for car insurance thanks to a highly saturated market. That’s why it’s important to compare rates from national brands, independent insurance agents, and fintech companies like Novo so you can find the best quality insurance coverage for your budget.

Insurance CompanyLiability OnlyFull CoverageIQ Score
The Insurify Quality (IQ) Score uses more than 15 criteria to objectively rate insurance companies on a one-to-five scale. The Insurify editorial team researches insurer data to determine the final scores.
Novo$84$124N/A
Root$63$983.9
LemonadeN/AN/A3.0
GEICO$54$1194.2
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.
  • Our editorial team spent 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. Criteria are weighted 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 5 scale based on five categories: financial ratings, customer satisfaction, affordability, customer support and transparency, and availability. We update ratings once a year or as more recent information becomes available.

    • Third-party financial ratings: We use 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 20,000 customer reviews across 155 car insurance companies. We also considered 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 United States, 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 identified the number of states in which insurers offer coverage and company size by market share to score availability and reach.

Novo vs. Root

Root is an online car insurance company similar to Novo that also offers renters and homeowners insurance. Like Novo, Root offers its auto insurance in only a few states. Instead of assigning premiums based solely on driver profiles and history, Root makes a new policyholder take a test-drive to assess their rate based on their driving habits.

One of the biggest differences between Root and Novo is that though both reward good drivers, Root evaluates drivers prior to policy approval, while Novo extends its discounts through other incentives during and when renewing the policy.

Root’s average monthly car insurance rates are $63 for liability-only insurance and $98 for full-coverage insurance, which are similar to Novo’s rates.

Root may be a good choice for drivers who need extra coverages that Novo doesn’t offer, such as roadside assistance and rental car coverage.

Novo vs. Lemonade

Like Novo, Lemonade is an online-only insurance company. Unlike Novo, however, it underwrites its own insurance policies and offers much more than just car insurance. Lemonade offers renters, homeowners, pet, and life insurance as well.

Another significant difference between Lemonade and traditional insurers is that Lemonade takes a flat fee from paid premiums and donates the money left over after paying operating expenses.

Car insurance is a new product from Lemonade, so people who have other policies with the company should look into bundling opportunities or multi-policy discounts. Lemonade may also be a good fit for a driver who wants to know that Lemonade partially uses premiums for philanthropic endeavors.

Novo vs. GEICO

GEICO is a traditional insurance company that sells various insurance products. The main difference between Novo and GEICO is that GEICO is a long-established insurer that offers multiple insurance products in all 50 states.

GEICO’s average monthly rates for liability and full-coverage insurance are $54 and $119, respectively, which are similar to Novo’s average rates.

Drivers who need SR-22 or FR-44 insurance should choose GEICO over Novo, as Novo is unable to offer this filing for certain high-risk drivers. However, Novo may be a better option for a driver with a clean record if they qualify for the maximum discount via the Novo Drive telematics program.

How to file an auto insurance claim with Novo

An auto insurance claim is what a driver files when asking their insurance company to assist them with payments resulting from bodily injury or property damage. For example, if you rear-end another car, you’ll file a claim to have your insurer cover the damages or injuries you caused.

As of summer 2023, the claims process for Novo is filed and monitored in two ways:

  1. Speaking with its claims team by phone at 1 (866) 862-7757

  2. Emailing its claims team at support@novo.us through your personal email or the Novo app

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Novo insurance FAQs

Since Novo is a new app-based insurance company that’s still building a reputation in the few states that it serves, you may wonder if it’s the right choice for you. Find answers to frequently asked questions about Novo insurance below.

  • Is Novo legitimate?

    Yes, Novo is a legitimate auto insurance company. Novo’s policies are underwritten by 21st Century Insurance, which is a Farmers Insurance Group company. Drivers have reason to be hesitant, though, since Novo’s relatively new status means it has little in the way of third-party reviews and ratings compared to more established insurers.

  • Is Novo car insurance worth it?

    Novo is worth it if you need a basic insurance plan and have a clean driving record. Many discounts, like e-signature and paperless, are easy to qualify for. The Novo Drive program can potentially add more discounts to your premium. It’s also worth considering if you’re unable to find low-cost insurance in your state, as Novo’s average rates are lower than the nation’s.

  • What is the average cost of Novo car insurance?

    The average cost of a Novo car insurance policy is $84 per month for liability only and $124 per month for full coverage.

  • Who owns Novo insurance?

    Telenav owns Novo car insurance. Telenav is a technology company that first brought GPS navigation capabilities to mobile phones in 2003. However, Telenav isn’t an insurance fintech company, so Novo has all of its insurance policies underwritten by 21st Century Premier Insurance Company, which was established in 1958 and is a member of Farmers Insurance Companies.

  • Who should get Novo insurance?

    Novo may be a good fit for drivers who need a basic liability-only policy at a low rate and aren’t opposed to working with an online-only insurer. Drivers seeking a more traditional car insurance experience, including bundling options and face-to-face customer service in physical offices, may find an independent insurer or nationwide brand to be a better fit.

Methodology

Insurify data scientists analyzed more than 90 million quotes served to car insurance applicants in Insurify’s proprietary database to calculate the premium averages displayed on this page. These premiums are real quotes that come directly from Insurify’s 50+ partner insurance companies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Quote averages represent the median price for a quote across the given coverage level, driver subset, and geographic area.

Unless otherwise specified, quoted rates reflect the average cost for drivers between 20 and 70 years old with a clean driving record and average or better credit (a credit score of 600 or higher).

Liability-only premium averages correspond to policies with the following coverage limits:

  • Bodily injury limits between state-minimum rates and $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident
  • Property damage limits between $10,000 and $50,000
  • No additional coverage
Full-coverage premium averages correspond to the same bodily injury and property damage limits in addition to:
  • Comprehensive coverage with a $1,000 deductible
  • Collision coverage with a $1,000 deductible

Quotes for Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, State Farm, and USAA are estimates based on Quadrant Information Services’ database of auto insurance rates.

Sources

  1. Novo. "Novo Drive, the Driving Program for Generation Now.."
  2. III. "What determines the price of an auto insurance policy?."
  3. Novo. "Turn every journey into a protected one."
  4. NHTSA. "Speeding and Aggressive Driving Prevention."
  5. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Teenagers."
Nick Dauk
Nick Dauk

Nick Dauk is a freelance writer specializing in business, entrepreneurship, personal finance, and travel. His work has been featured in Fox Business, BBC, The Edge, Business Insider, and Bisnow. Nick is a first-generation college graduate, having majored in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Central Florida. His eclectic coursework, combined with previous managerial roles in the retail and broadcast television industries, have helped him develop an interdisciplinary approach to writing.

For nearly a decade, Nick has created content for mom-and-pop businesses and global corporations. As a travel writer, his global adventures have also been featured on Inside Hook, Houston Chronicle, Culture Trip, and Matador. When he's not traveling, Nick can be found in Orlando spending time with his wife and toddler.

Courtney Mikulski
Edited byCourtney MikulskiSenior Editor, Auto
Courtney Mikulski
Courtney MikulskiSenior Editor, Auto
  • 3+ years producing insurance and personal finance content

  • Main architect of the Insurify Quality Score

Courtney’s deep personal finance knowledge extends beyond insurance to credit cards, consumer lending, and banking. She thrives on creating actionable content.

Featured in

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