What Does The EU Gender Ruling Mean For Your Car Insurance?
Thursday, 1 September 2011
The European Court of Justice recently announced that from December 2012 insurance companies cannot base their quotes on gender.
The issue of gender differences in car insurance was raised by the Belgian Consumers' Association as it has always been standard practice for men's insurance premiums to be higher than women's. The premiums are based on statistics that reveal women are less likely to cause a crash and claim on their car insurance than men. This has been the case for many years but European judges recently decided that this is unfair gender discrimination and men and women should be treated equally.
There are many people who are unhappy with the decision as it does not take into account the statistical differences between accidents involving males and females. Most people agree that if men are statistically more likely to cause an accident then it is right that their insurance premiums should be higher to account for the higher associated risks.
According to the British Insurance Brokers Association, the new law is unlikely to have a significant effect on the insurance premiums of men, although it is possible that they could fall by up to 10 per cent. Unfortunately for women, they could see their car insurance rise by up to 25 per cent. There are understandable worries that insurers will not pass on reduced premiums for men but will increase them for women, therefore pocketing the difference.
Insurance companies are unlikely to take into account gender when calculating a car insurance quote in future but they will still consider the age of the driver, the number of years of no-claims they have, the car they drive, where they live and their occupation.
The number of years a driver manages to clock up without claiming on their car insurance is one of the most pivotal factors in the price of their car insurance premiums. Insurance companies prefer to insure safe drivers who are unlikely to claim. Drivers who have not claimed in the past are believed to be less likely to do so in the future.
Age remains an important factor also; this is due to the fact that younger drivers are statistically much more likely to be involved in car accidents than older drivers, who have usually been driving much longer and generally tend to be more cautious. Many people are taking the gender argument much further, claiming that age should no longer be a deciding factor in car insurance premiums.
There can be significant discrepancies in car insurance quotes between various insurance providers. Many people are surprised by the amount of money they can save by examining different quotes. Different companies also specialise in various types of insurance such as policies for young people, for older people, for learner drivers or student car insurance. Some specialise in sports cars, 4x4s or environmentally-friendly cars. Some companies also offer one-day car insurance and insurance for people who do not drive long distances.
It's recommended that you compare car insurance quotes with as many insurance providers as possible. They majority of companies are online so it is easy to compare them all without having to call individual companies, and it is even easier with a car insurance comparison site.
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