Womens Motor Insurance: Lady Drivers
Women's motor insurance is cheaper than most. Lower insurance premiums are God’s way of telling man that his jokes about women drivers are rubbish. Or perhaps the jokes are man’s way of telling God that his premiums are unfair. Let’s set aside these theological musings for a minute and look at the what, where and how of premiums for lady drivers when it comes to motor insurance.
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One of the elements in the insurer’s balancing act of profitability is assignation of a scale of risk to clients. In the case of drivers it’s well known that young men are seen as one of the highest risk sectors, while women under 30 are generally considered lower risk than their male counterparts. Post-30, the discrepancy evens out. These generalizations are based on the principle that it’s not just about how well someone can drive, but how judiciously and responsibly. It may well be the case, as the chief instructor for Britain’s Driving Standards Agency claimed in early 2005, that men pick up the basic skills of controlling and maneuvering a vehicle more quickly than the female of the species. Their slightly higher pass rates would certainly suggest as much. But while traffic offences by women are on the up, the vast majority of dangerous and drink driving offences are still committed by men. When women do have accidents, statistics suggest that they are less likely to be serious.
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It’s difficult to make generalizations with any great accuracy, but this one has convinced a goodly proportion of insurance companies and women drivers that it makes financial sense to leave it to the girls. Insurers such as Diamond (whose adverts, you may notice if you live in London, are omnipresent on the tube) or www.girlmotor.com specialize in lady drivers on the premise that what they lose in lower premiums they will make up in more customers and fewer claims. On the face of it, it’s a win-win situation – for women drivers and their insurers, at least.
However, while being female can be an asset in the case of motor insurance premiums, when it comes to other kinds of insurance such as healthcare and annuities women can find themselves at a disadvantage. The principle of lower premiums for lady drivers was challenged in Europe in 2004/early 2005 on the grounds of sex discrimination. In the end an opt-out clause was inserted in the EU Gender Directive which means that insurers can continue with current practice until 2008, when they will have to provide research data to support any gender-based risk assessment. So perhaps it won’t be such a bad thing for men and women when it’s harder for insurers to make generalizations.
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