Men are still paying an average of 25 percent more than women, half a decade after the ruling’s implementation
New EU auto insurance rates data revealed that men are consistently paying more for their policies than women. This, despite the fact that the European Union introduced a rule to stop gender price discrimination five years ago.
The EU auto insurance rates regulations had been meant to stop the common practice which was costing men hundreds of euros more than women to drive. It was so commonplace that there were some insurance companies that sold exclusively to women so they could provide all their customers with a discount.
However, new data has revealed that despite the automatic removal of gender-specific premiums calculations, men still pay far more for car insurance. The reason is that insurance company data continues to find that most male drivers are riskier to insure.
The ban went into place back in 2012. Since that time, data from a comparethemarket.com analysis suggests that the gap between what men and women drivers are paying has actually widened.
From June through August 2017, the average male driver was paying 27 percent more than the average female driver. This translated to a difference of hundreds of euros every year.
“This data shows how little difference the EU gender directive has had on insurance premiums,” said John Miles from comparethemarket.com. “Providers are still giving big discounts to women.
“This is likely due to a number of factors, such as statistically higher accident rates for men and more men than women driving business and commercial vehicles – which are higher risk”
Miles also pointed out that while EU auto insurance rates can’t automatically be discounted for women, insurers are using risk models that continue to consider men a greater risk behind the wheel. The research did point out that men were able to reduce the gap as long as they were willing to shop around, but that it would be difficult to find an insurer offering equal rates to men and women.
