COMPANY PROMOTION
Feeling worse off in 2013? You soon could be when your car insurance comes up for renewal. Premiums for young women have skyrocketed since the EU Gender ruling came into effect at the end of 2012.
The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) provided the following young driver price rise case study:
Hazel Bond, 19 from Fleet in Hampshire is a student nurse facing a 38% increase for her Renault Clio.
Hazel said, "I thought my premium would be lower this year as I am a year older and have another year's no claim bonus.
“I was shocked to see that following this new European law most of the quotes are more expensive and one of them had a big increase of 38% in December, over £400 more."
So why the huge price hike?
Since 21 December 2012 insurance companies have not been able to consider someone's sex when calculating the cost of their insurance. Previously women's car insurance was cheaper because women were (and still are!) less likely to have an accident and make a claim than men. And when we do have an accident, repairs are also likely to cost less. Here's the maths:
£4,440 is the average cost to an insurance company for a claim by an 18-year old male
£2,700 is the average claim cost for a woman aged 18
So young women may be a lower risk, but from now on, they'll pay the same as men. And the women most affected are those aged 17 to 25 – with some now shelling out a staggering 38% more!
What can young drivers do?
Women used to get cheaper quotes for generally being safer drivers. But what if there was still a way they could prove they’re still good drivers, regardless of their gender? Well, there is – it’s called black box insurance.
This new kind of insurance is really taking off – it’s forecast to be chosen by 500,000 customers by next summer. And for good reason – BIBA estimates that black box insurance could save young drivers in particular up to a quarter on their car insurance – meaning young women could effectively use it to claw back some or all of the increased cost.
How does black box insurance work?
Black box insurance puts telematics technology inside your car (usually fitted out of sight behind the dashboard). Some insurers use black boxes to limit the number of miles you can drive or to impose a night-time curfew, so curbing your freedom and their risk. But there is an alternative and they’re called ingenie. The ingenie black box assesses your driving style. By looking at your driving trends and patterns, ingenie treats you and insures you as an individual. You could save up to 25% when compared to normal cover – and with ingenie, your price could change by up to a further 10% depending on how well you drive in your first year.
You can find out more by visiting the ingenie website.
The thing to remember is that women previously enjoyed cheaper car insurance because we are less likely to crash, and that hasn't changed. So you can still reap the rewards of being a woman who drives well by opting for black box insurance that looks at how you drive as an individual.
- Natalie Pinkham, Sky Sports F1 reporter and ingenie ambassador
