An EU directive advising insurance companies to charge equal amounts for both male and female drivers could see many young women choosing to drive uninsured.
The plan to bring female car insurance rates in line with their (significantly higher) male counterparts’ is a move being criticised by many as unnecessary and problematic.Statistics regularly show that female drivers, regardless of their age or experience, are generally safer than male drivers – they get less speeding convictions, and are involved in fewer accidents. Therefore it has always been logical that women’s insurance premiums should reflect this, and lower prices have been charged. What’s more, a third of men are in agreement that women should pay less – and a total of 48% of all UK drivers believe the EU initiative to be unfair.
The worst consequence, however, is that the EU decision to bring equality to the realms of car insurance is expected to discourage as many as 1 in 3 women from renewing their insurance, as they know the cost will be impractical and in many cases impossible to afford.
Of course, male drivers under the age of 24 will have no truck with these complaints, as they have always had to shell out money for high premiums. The problem is, even male insurance costs are set to rise.
This could create even more problems as women will be expected to pay even more – as much as 25% extra – when the final premium levels are announced. One in ten women said this much of an increase would force them to give up driving completely, whilst 5% of the female population said their education would suffer as they would no longer be able to afford to get to school or college. A further 15% said they would be forced to change or quit their jobs as they could not afford the commute.
Of course, driving without insurance is illegal: if caught, it could earn you points on your licence, a hefty fine and it’s not unheard of for your car to be impounded. But it seems that many women are prepared to take the chance in order to keep the use of their car in the face of such dramatic increases to their driving costs.
The only question is, what will be the cost to them – and other road users – in the long run?
Additional reading: Please visit our Learner Drivers Insurance page for a general overview of Learners and New drivers insurance.
