Just to update...I did finally call Mahindra Finance to get some questions answered.
Penalty for paying off early: NO
Paying extra each month: Any extra paid simply goes towards the next months payment. This adds up and basically has you in the black; meaning that your next actual payment due date may be months away. Between now and then the monthly payments are automatically covered from what you have paid ahead, no monthly payment necessary and no penalties. If you continue to make monthly payments you are simply pushing out your next payment due date. Or you can specify to have it directly applied to the principal balance. Either/or with a 0% agreement makes no difference in what you pay in the end, other than insurance costs.
Insurance: The insurance ends when the contract is paid in full, whether full term (84 months) or paid off early. Let's say you pay it off 12 months early, then 12 months of the insurance portion of the monthly payment will be deducted from the pay off balance owed. So this isn't an issue, other than having to get insurance elsewhere if desired.
So for my situation where I would just like to get out of the debt earlier I guess I have a few options with no hard consequences.
1. Request a pay off balance to be paid in full, lose the current insurance and search elsewhere or go without
2. Continue to pay extra each month as our finances permits and slowly pay off early, lose the insurance when paid off
So it really comes down to insurance issues and I'll need to look into coverage details and options.
Penalty for paying off early: NO
Paying extra each month: Any extra paid simply goes towards the next months payment. This adds up and basically has you in the black; meaning that your next actual payment due date may be months away. Between now and then the monthly payments are automatically covered from what you have paid ahead, no monthly payment necessary and no penalties. If you continue to make monthly payments you are simply pushing out your next payment due date. Or you can specify to have it directly applied to the principal balance. Either/or with a 0% agreement makes no difference in what you pay in the end, other than insurance costs.
Insurance: The insurance ends when the contract is paid in full, whether full term (84 months) or paid off early. Let's say you pay it off 12 months early, then 12 months of the insurance portion of the monthly payment will be deducted from the pay off balance owed. So this isn't an issue, other than having to get insurance elsewhere if desired.
So for my situation where I would just like to get out of the debt earlier I guess I have a few options with no hard consequences.
1. Request a pay off balance to be paid in full, lose the current insurance and search elsewhere or go without
2. Continue to pay extra each month as our finances permits and slowly pay off early, lose the insurance when paid off
So it really comes down to insurance issues and I'll need to look into coverage details and options.