Equal rights, but at what price?

Women have for many years been fighting for equal rights and have achieved great social, academic and commercial success as a result. However, the battle of the sexes has always been dominated by one question; which sex is the better driver? In a recent independent survey from leading motor insurance broker InsureYourMotor.com, it was revealed that men commit a massive 89% of all road traffic offences. However, findings also indicated that women have more claims on their insurance policies albeit for smaller accidents such as scrapes and prangs. It is facts and figures such as these that have convinced insurance companies that women are safer drivers than men and thus they are rewarded them lower insurance premiums. However, this may all soon change if moves from the EU attempting to pass legislation banning gender discrimination are approved. Under a new proposed ‘one-price’ policy, the UK’s 15 million women drivers would be required to pay premiums equal to those for men, even though they cause far less serious accidents and are much less of a cost to insurance companies. Pricing policies would be determined by individual’s previous convictions, claims and information about the car. David Harlow MD of GirlMotor.com comments: “Women drivers have lower premiums for a good reason. They are quite simply a lower risk than men; they drive shorter distances, their mileages are lower and they usually drive much slower than men. If this new legislation is passed it will have a major effect on the entire insurance industry as other factors such as age, occupation and home postcode could also be excluded from the pricing process. To accuse car insurance companies of gender discrimination is ridiculous as gender is a factor in risk assessment for all forms of insurance.”