Insurance companies with a higher ratio of women than men will have the smallest price change when European Court of Justice equality laws are implemented next year.
News Insurances found that if a company insures more women than men, the statistics and information they would use to underwrite insurance would more reflect a woman than a man, leaving prices largely unchanged.
“Acompany that is more equally split will have a greater flow of premium going from women to men and therefor their prices will have to change more,” said Adrian Webb, Head of Communication at Sheila’s Wheels.
“With female marketed insurers the ratio is so skewed in the favor of women, that the claims of the men that are with us will not end up having to be subsidised quite as much”
Currently, a company with an equal spread of men and women charge lower premium for women and higher for men based on current claims statistics.
When the laws are implemented it will become illegal to differentiate prices based on gender, so these companies will begin charging men roughly 10% less for car insurance and women around 25% more.
Webb said this ratio would be different for gender marketed companies.
“A large company at the moment that has an equal split of men and women will be charging lower premiums for the women and higher premiums for the men. If those two premiums have to meet in the middle then they’re going to draw a line about half way and that is where the price will settle for both genders.
“With Sheilas Wheels because you have a 95 : 5 split you don’t have to draw a line in the middle, you get to draw it much closer to the women’s prices”
He said that car insurance companies targeted mostly at men would have the opposite effect and prices for all customers will reflect mens current prices
