Americans have grown used to auto insurance as a simple contract. Premiums stay the same throughout the policy term, usually six or 12 months. But that long-standing rhythm is changing in favor of more data-driven pricing and ongoing connectivity. Insurance could soon feel less like a predictable product and more like a monthly bill, like utilities or other variably priced services. Drivers can already opt in to this kind of arrangement with telematics. Drivers trade price consistency for savings. For insurers, it could mean the end of the decades-long tradition of using actuarial tables to calculate premiums. Insurance that prices you in real time Actuarial tables set premiums based on factors such as driving record, credit history, age, gender, location, and vehicle type. Once a driver buys a traditional auto insurance policy, the insurer can’t legally change the premium until the policy comes up for renewal. But with newer technologies, such as telematics, connected-car data, and AI-powered analytics, insurers can now continuously assess your risk and adjust pricing accordingly. “It’s not necessarily a new concept,” said Kelly Hernandez, associate vice president of auto product development and telematics at Nationwide Insurance. “But it’s a new concept for auto insurance.” Insurers began introducing telematics programs as convenient safety- and driver-feedback systems, frequently linked to smartphones. Now, to an increasingly greater extent, telematics programs set policy prices that may frequently go up or down, depending on the data. Telematics tracks everything in real time — including a car’s speed and mileage, a driver’s braking habits, when they drive, and even how often they use their cell phone while driving. The technology feeds that data back to the driver’s insurance company. The insurer then uses the data to refine the risk profile and potentially raise or lower the customer’s premium. In other words, instead