What will the Gender Directive mean for Motor Insurance?

After the 21st December it will be illegal for Insurers to use Gender as a rating factor for Insurance premium calculations.   What will this mean for Insurance rates?
Gender is historically one of the main risk factors that Insurance companies use when calculating car insurance premiums.
This is based on statistical and actuarial information that demonstrates that male drivers, particularly those under the age of 25, statistically have worse safety records than their female counterparts. However, The European Court of Justice has judged this practice to be in breach of gender equality.

Each country must pass the directive into national law by 21^st December 2012.  Some companies may operate on a gender neutral basis in advance of this date, but this is the date by which all must comply.

Female motorists who have traditionally paid less than their male counterparts for their motor insurance are most likely to lose out financially.
This will be especially true for female drivers under the age of 25 who are likely to see their premiums increase substantially.
Male drivers within this same age category may see their premiums lower,  but the extent to which this will be the case will only become apparent as Insurers release their new Gender neutral rates.    So if you are a female driver considering Insurance over the next few months, it may be in your interest to insure before December.

We expect that the other rating factors will come more to the forefront and have an increased impact on premium calculation.   These may include length of time a full driving licence is held for example.

Policies such as life assurance are affected by this change. However, it will not have an effect on your home insurance policy or other products such as travel insurance as Insurers do not rate those policies according to gender.

We will be monitoring the changes carefully over the coming months and working to achieve the best possible outcome for all our clients wherever possible.     We have long been one of the top brokers for young male drivers, so we understand that individual young male drivers can have excellent driving records, and it’s not as general as the statistics suggest.    We work to get the best deal for each individual client, based on their driving record, with the most suitable insurer for them, and will continue to do so in the new gender nuetral market.