When you make changes to your policy, the insurance company will reassess your premiums. OCHO takes no part in the pricing process. The insurance provider makes this decision, based on the new information.
If the cost goes up, your payment plan or loan agreement with OCHO needs to be updated too.
Let’s look at some examples:
- If you have a multi-driver or multi-vehicle discount on your policy and you remove a driver or vehicle, your premium could increase because you lose that original discount. Or, if you add a driver with a bad driving record this will also increase your premium.
- Each vehicle has a different insurance rate. More expensive or modified cars cost more to insure because they’re more expensive to repair or replace. Vehicles that are more likely to be involved in accidents or stolen also come with higher insurance rates. Your premium includes the specific risk profile of the car you drive.
- Changing your address can also increase your premiums. Insurance companies use ZIP codes as part of their pricing models. For example, we had a customer in Chicago whose premiums increased by hundreds of dollars simply by moving a few blocks away into a different ZIP code.
- If you make a change near the end of your policy term, there isn’t enough time to spread the premium increase across multiple installments.
This means you’ll need to pay the remaining balance on your policy plus any premium increase in one lump sum.
A customer recently wanted to replace their vehicle with a Tesla, but they had only 19 days left on their policy. The insurance company reassessed the coverage and decided to increase their premium by $380. With so little time left on the policy, we couldn’t break this increase into manageable chunks. The customer had to pay $439.50 for their final installment (the increase plus their usual payment amount).