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Pro: Hugo’s business model is incredibly innovative. Many vehicle owners in America don’t drive every day, yet find themselves paying exorbitant amounts for insurance. With Hugo, you pay only for the days you use your car. Hugo offers you a daily rate which gets deducted from your prepaid account each day you use your vehicle. On days you don’t drive your vehicle out of the garage, you don’t pay a cent. This is a great way to save on auto insurance if you don’t use your car on a regular basis.
Con: The pay-when-you-go model is only really worthwhile if you don’t plan to use your car that often. In California, the average annual premium for minimum state liability is $573 (according to The Zebra). Hugo’s average daily rate is $4, so it’s only worth it if you plan to drive fewer than 143 days per year (or roughly 2.75 times per week). The other thing to be aware of with Hugo is the level of coverage – which is minimum state liability only, with no collision, comprehensive, or other add-ons.
Hugo Insurance offers one type of coverage only: minimum liability insurance for California, encompassing $15,000 for injury/death to another person, $30,000 for injury/death to more than one person, and $5,000 for property damage.
Hugo’s policies are underwritten by Aspire General Insurance, a California-based, private passenger auto liability and physical damage carrier with a B+ (Good) financial strength rating from A.M. Best Rating Services.
At this point, Hugo does not offer any additional forms of coverage. That means no comprehensive, collision, personal injury protection, or uninsured / underinsured motorist coverage, nor any optional add-ons.
At this point, you’re probably wondering how Hugo knows which days you drive and which you don’t? If you’re worried about Hugo making you install a tracking device in your vehicle, then take a breath because it’s actually much simpler than that. Before you drive, text COVER to Hugo and you will receive a reply confirming that your insurance is on. Then, when you plan to stop driving, text PAUSE to the same number and Hugo will reply to confirm that your insurance will pause starting the next day.
What’s the catch? There really isn’t one. Like any form of auto insurance, the obligation is yours to stay covered. If you drive the car out of the garage without coverage and get into an accident, you become financially liable. But if you hit COVER before driving (and wait for that confirmation message from Hugo), you’re protected.
The other important thing to mention is billing. Hugo works like a pay-as-you-go mobile phone in that you pay for what you use. You charge your account with a prepaid amount (minimum $15) and Hugo deducts your daily rate each day you use it. Each time you text COVER or PAUSE to Hugo, it sends you a notification with your account balance. Aside from that, there are no down payments, agent fees, or penalties. The daily rate is all that you pay.
To apply to Hugo, go to the Hugo website and click the “Check my price” button and enter your zip code. Hugo is in the process of rolling out its coverage across California, so don’t be surprised if you get a message stating that the service isn’t available in your area yet. The good news is you can enter your email to join the early access list and get a notification when Hugo arrives in your area.
Hugo’s website doesn’t say anything about the claims process. Given Hugo is wholly owned, operated, and underwritten by Aspire General Insurance Company, it’s safe to say all claims go through Aspire. Aspire General offers 3 methods of filing a claim: phone, email, or post.
Hugo Insurance has only just launched and it’s obvious from the website that there are still a lot of things it needs to add and improve. One of those things is customer service. At present, Hugo doesn’t offer any customer service beyond being able to add your email address to its database. Presumably it will begin offering customer service as it rolls out its innovative pay-when-you-drive service across California. Should you have any specific enquiries about Hugo, we recommend speaking to Aspire General at (877) 789-4742.
It’s always great to see insurance companies use technology to make car insurance cheaper and simpler. Hugo Insurance’s unique pay-when-you-drive business model offers a refreshing take on minimum liability insurance. Hugo has only just begun trialling its product in certain zip codes in California, so it remains to be seen how successful it will be. We give Hugo an A+ for innovative thinking and wish it luck as it tests out its product with California drivers.
