The answer to this question may surprise you. The truth is that down payments have very little to do with the insurance company, and more to do with state filings that are required to operate a Non-Emergency Transportation company.
When insurance companies issue filings on your behalf, they are guaranteeing the state in which you operate that you’ll have insurance for the next 45 days. This means insurance companies must charge enough down payment premium to keep your insurance coverage in force for at least 45 days. If not, then they are, in essence, paying your insurance premium for you.
As you can imagine, just as you would not unwillingly pay someone else’s bill, neither would an insurance company. That’s why they have to charge a high enough down payment premium to cover the 45 days.