They call it the Gender Directive.
Really, they do.
Starting Dec. 21, insurance companies in the European Union
won't be able to use gender as a factor when they calculate rates
for auto and life insurance.
If you are a British man, you are probably very happy, because
you pay a lot more for "cover" than your fairer-sex counterparts.
For example, personal finance site
Confused.com
says the average British man under 20 pays $4,675 a year, but the
average woman under 20 pays $2,441.
Britain, Ireland and Italy are expected to see the greatest
changes in rates in the wake of a European Court of Justice ruling
last year, which extends its 2004 Gender Directive into the realm
of financial and insurance contracts.
No one knows exactly how the EU's chromosome-agnostic car
insurance rates will shake out, but experts expect a dramatic rise
in what female drivers pay -- especially the young ones. Online
shopping site Gocompare's head of motor insurance, Scott Kelly,
says: "We expect to see premiums equalized at the higher male rate
rather than the lower rate for females."
Here's what the difference between the sexes looks like in the
U.S. for young drivers, based on a sample of 60,000 car insurance
quotes delivered through CarInsurance.com's
comparison engine
:
|
Age
|
Female
|
Male
|
Difference
|
|
16
|
$ 3,689
|
$ 4,287
|
16%
|
|
17
|
$ 3,399
|
$ 3,682
|
8%
|
|
18
|
$ 3,003
|
$ 3,305
|
10%
|
|
19
|
$ 2,371
|
$ 2,627
|
11%
|
|
20
|
$ 2,260
|
$ 2,502
|
11%
|
|
21
|
$ 2,014
|
$ 2,239
|
11%
|
|
22
|
$ 1,897
|
$ 2,033
|
7%
|
|
23
|
$ 1,791
|
$ 1,857
|
4%
|
|
24
|
$ 1,713
|
$ 1,790
|
4%
|
|
25
|
$ 1,616
|
$ 1,593
|
-1%
|
As in Britain, differences in rates largely disappear as young
drivers mature. Of course, sex is only one of many things car
insurers look at (in the U.S.,
your ZIP code
and your own driving record are among the biggest factors).
Polling by shopping-comparison site uSwitch.com says as many as
1 in 10 British women might stop driving altogether. Experts also
predict a stampede toward usage-based car insurance programs that
monitor driving and deliver large discounts to the safest drivers.
(See "
Plug in, drive less, save more
.")
Women will also get hit on the life insurance side, where their
longer lifespan historically has meant cheaper prices. But
they also may get higher pension payments in return.