10-03-2011

The recent decision made by the European Court of Justice to ban gender pricing on insurance related products is set to impact heavily on female drivers as the cost of cover for women drivers is expected to climb by 25%, or even as much as 50% for some.

The ruling is most likely to hit women drivers aged 25 or under, who are statistically the group who have the fewest accidents and make the least expensive insurance claims. A spokeswoman for the leading women’s insurer Sheila ’s Wheels, commented: “The ruling will affect millions of women across the EU causing premiums to rise artificially in a way which no longer truly reflects women ’s risk as drivers or the cost of their claims”.

Some of the more unscrupulous insurers will view this as a perfect opportunity to increase their prices and further fatten their already bloated coffers. In theory, this new dawn of pricing equality should force insurance companies to calculate the rates of their premiums on a range of provable factors, rather than falling back on the more simple approach of gender stereotyping.

The official statistics from the British Insurance Brokers Association reveal an interesting insight into the level of risk which exists amongst varying demographics. A spokesman for the organisation said: “Male drivers under 21 are twice as likely to have an accident as a female in the same age group. The cost of an average claim by an 18 year-old male is £4,400, compared to the £2,700 average claim cost of the same age girl”.

Other market analysis shows that men currently pay 30% more than women, although it is also true that the cost of premiums among female drivers are rising at a faster rate than they were for men, even before the European Court of Justice ruling.

With the cost of cover on an upward trend, it makes Van Compare’s scouring of over 20 leading insurers an even more worthwhile exercise, as spreading your net so wide will help you to find the cheapest possible van insurance quotes.