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Drive down your car insurance costs

October 22, 2012 07:59

By

Martin Lewis,

Martin Lewis

3 min read

Due to a new equality law that comes into play in December, many women face huge car insurance hikes, some as high as £2,000. Yet there is still time to beat it — just.

On 21 December, the European Court of Justice gender equalisation ruling gcomes into effect. From that date, insurers are not permitted to discriminate by offering different prices based on whether someone is a man or woman — gender is no longer a factor. So, all other things being equal, you would pay the same.
The current situation however, is far from that. According to Gocompare, at the end of August, men paid an average £315 — or 41 per cent — more than women. Men under 20 paid up to £2,000 more, as young women drivers have a far better safety record than their stereotypical boy-racer equivalents.

No one knows for sure what will happen, even now, although we have known about this ruling for over a year. This is because insurers are playing a waiting game to spot what their competitors will do — so they can nip in and gain advantage one way or the other.
It is possible men’s prices could drop to that of women’s (fat chance). More likely, women will face monumental hikes and men’s come down a touch.

Act now to beat it
The younger you are, the more this is likely to have a full-scale price catastrophe impact, as this is where the biggest differences are. Under-35s are likely to be affected and under-25s, hit hard.