Young women lose out after car insurance goes gender neutral

An industry analysis conducted by The AA has found that motor insurance prices are up by an average of 3.3% since the introduction of gender neutral pricing in December last year. While prices increased across the board, it was the young women aged 17 to 24, who fared the worst. Men in the same age bracket came out best.

“We did predict a rise in motor insurance last December so we’re not really surprised with the outcome” says Conor Faughnan Director of Consumer Affairs at The AA. “We knew that young men would come out happy while young women would bear the brunt of the costs. It is shocking to see just how much more women aged 17 to 24 are paying.”

According to the AA Insurance analysis women under the age of 25 generally saw a price increase of more than 20% since last year while some women saw increases of 50%.

The young men are the winners. Those aged under 25 saw a decrease of 26%. For the slightly older age category, women aged 26 to 29 saw an increase of 3%, while men saw a decrease of almost 19%.

The figures discovered in the industry estimate reflect those reported in the latest AA Motor Insurance poll of 23,750 people. Participants were asked whether they had noticed an increase or decrease in their car insurance since the gender neutral policy was introduced. Overall, 44% said their insurance had increased. The majority of these were female, with 53% of women saying their insurance had gone up.

“If you are a woman under 24 then for over 60% of cases your price has gone up, in some cases by a large amount” says Director of Consumer Affairs Conor Faughnan. “It is a little better for slightly older women but there are still sharp price increases for that category. The young men were the winners.”

“Younger women are no doubt fuming at this substantial increase and it certainly feels unfair to them.” remarks Faughnan. “Statistics have shown that women under the age of 25 are in fact safer drivers than men of the same age.” Just before the gender ruling came to force The AA asked motorists what they thought of it and unsurprisingly women were not best pleased. Only 29% of women said they believed the ruling to be fair compared to 74% of males.

The AA also asked the 23,000 respondents of their motor insurance poll whether they had shopped around to get the best deal this year since hearing about the gender neutral changes. Women were far more likely to look for the best price than men, with over 65% saying they had done their research compared to 47% of men.

“We’ve always encouraged motorists to shop around for the best deal on motor insurance” says Faughnan. “There are always ways of getting the price down, such as buying multiple products or buying online. The AA offer discounts if you have Membership, Home Insurance or any of our other products and we offer €40 off online.”

To help you get the best deal on your car insurance, The AA has this advice:

• If the replacement value of your car is low. I.e. if you’re car wouldn’t sell for more than about €1,000 you could opt for Third Party Fire and Theft rather than fully Comprehensive Insurance.
• Add your spouse/partner to the policy as this may actually reduce the cost.
• If you’re spouse/partner has their own car, this might reduce it even further.
• Pass your driving test – it might require a bit of work but it can cut the cost.
• Get a quote online – The AA offers a €40 discount.
• Increase the excess on your insurance. While this will bring down the cost, if you are involved in a collision the initial amount (excess) you will have to pay will be more.
• Look for a value policy – You can save up to 20% with The AA by purchasing their Value policy.
• Spread the cost – if you pay by direct debit, smaller amounts will be taken out every month rather than one lump sum.
• You can strip back your policy and remove some of the benefits. For example, instead of full ‘no-claims-bonus’ protection you could get a reduced level of cover. It is a gamble though because if you are unlucky enough to have a claim then your price will go up – again.