Road news
02/03/2011
Cheapest car insurance and the new EU gender ruling
Having the cheapest car insurance is a claim that women will no longer be able to make after a landmark decision made yesterday by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Insurance providers will no longer be allowed to charge different rates to their customers based upon on their gender.
Reports state that it was a Belgian consumer group who first brought the issue forward to the ECJ, in a bid for gender equality.
Although some men may feel like this is a step in the right direction, there are likely to be negative consequences felt by all drivers. So-called "low-risk" drivers may now have to pay more in order to cover the cost of the "high-risk" drivers on the roads. There may also be a large increase in the number of uninsured drivers on UK highways, since people might no longer be able to afford the more expensive premiums.
The director of policy and research at the Institute for Advanced Motorists feels that the ruling is taking ‘equal rights' for both sexes too far.
He stated, "There is a growing problem of uninsured drivers out there in general - most of them men. If we start to get women being faced with huge premiums some of them will be tempted to drive without insurance as well."
Women have had the cheapest car insurance in the past because, on the whole, they are the safer drivers on the road – causing fewer high-cost road accidents.
The insurance premiums for female drivers under 25 years of age may now increase by as much as 25%. This is being widely condemned, with future predictions being that insurance premiums are likely to increase "across the board".