Back in December 2012, the EU Gender Directive made it illegal for men and women to be charged different car insurance premiums purely due to gender. However, it is no secret that, on average, women are paying less for their cover than men but why could this be?
Well, let’s first look at what sort of difference there is between what male and female drivers are paying for insuring their vehicles. According to the Confused.com car insurance price index for the second quarter of 2018, men paid an average of £793 per annum for fully comprehensive cover and women paid an average of £701 per annum for the same level of cover. That is a difference of £92 – a significant sum of money.
There are a number of reasons why men and women pay different amounts for their cover. For instance, one of these is that, on average, men are more likely to make a claim on their motor insurance policy than women. Another reason is that men, on average, tend to travel more miles in their cars than women and the number of miles you do in the car has a bearing on the premium you pay as those travelling longer distances behind the wheel are more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident. Male drivers also, on average, have more convictions and these can have a negative impact on the premium charged.
Another interesting reason as to why, on average, women pay less for their car insurance than men is that men tend, on average, to drive around in more high powered cars and they are usually more expensive to insure than a “normal” family car as you are more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident in a high performance vehicle and it is more likely to get stolen.
So, it would appear that men would need to make some changes in a number of areas if they are, on average, going to be able to get their cover on their cars at a comparable price to women.
