Gender pricing gap disappears as ECJ ruling looms - Tiger

The gender pricing gap between men and women has disappeared as the ECJ gender ruling begins to take effect, according to price comparison site Tiger.co.uk.

The ruling that bans insurers from taking gender into account on underwriting is due to come into force at the end of the year.

And latest results from aggregator Tiger reveal that insurers have been narrowing the gap throughout the year and now men get a better deal.

The results show that in March this year men were paying 12.4% more than women, but that has steadily scaled down to the point where women are actually paying 1.9% more in August.

However, a spokesman for the AA, which has its own premium index, running since 1994, said its own results showed there was still a consistent gap between men and women.

The last shoparound index of the five cheapest quotes last showed £3,002 for men and £2,125 for women.

A spokesman said: “We have seen a big gap of up to 30% between men and women and we are still seeing that, although we expect to narrow in the run up to the ruling.”

Young women driver increases

Tiger justified its figures by claiming that the impetus for the narrowing gap is premiums charged to young women. A 20-year-old female driver has seen prices increase by 9.2% compared to a year ago, while a 25-year-old woman has seen prices rise by 0.6% in the same period.

All other driver profiles analysed within the Tiger Watch study have seen prices dropping, with all over 35 year old male and female driver profiles seeing some significant price drops.

Tiger Watch shows that on average prices have fallen by about 1.3% compared to a month ago and by 3.4% year-on-year.

Tiger commercial director Andrew Goulborn said: “We’ve been producing this car insurance price monitor since January 2010 and for the first time we’ve seen average male pricing dip below women’s prices in August.

“But it’s not all women who are seeing increases – it’s younger female drivers who are being hit hard, probably as a result of the EU Gender Directive that comes into play in four months’ time.

“Traditionally young women have enjoyed relatively cheap car insurance prices when compared with young male drivers but with the use of gender as a rating factor being outlawed at the end of this year, we’re seeing insurance providers start to more closely align prices across the genders.

“As ever, we would advise all drivers to shop around using a quick and accurate independent car insurance comparison site like Tiger.co.uk”.