Insurers will need to raise cash to cover against ''new uncertainties''
The UK insurance industry will need to raise an estimated £936m if EU judges pass new rules on gender-based pricing tomorrow.
Open Europe, the think-tank campaigning for EU reforms, says the verdict will force insurers to raise the extra cash to cover themselves against ''new uncertainties'' created in the market.
The European Court of Justice is expected to rule that charging women lower premiums than men breaches EU rules on sex discrimination.
Open Europe research director Stephen Booth said: ''Giving EU judges free reign to rewrite laws that the UK Government has signed up to in good faith can cause hugely damaging and unforeseen consequences.
"That these judges would magically rule that young women should pay more in the name of equality is simply perverse. Instead of making prices fairer between men and women, this ruling would increase costs for consumers taken as a whole.''
Female drivers could pay an extra £4,300 drivers between the ages of 17 and 25. Men could save £3,250 over the same period.
Booth added: ''This is a perfect illustration of how giving ever greater powers to unaccountable EU judges does not only come with a democratic cost, but can also have massive economic costs for individual consumers and the wider UK economy.
"Clearly, we need some checks and balances in place to make sure this doesn't happen again and again in other areas of EU law.''
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