Men Vs Women Car Insurance

One of the eternal arguments that can come up in male versus female arguments is that of driving insurance premiums. It is a well known fact the women’s car insurance premiums can be significantly less than men’s, if all other factors remain the same (such as type of vehicle, location and past claims history). But why is this?

Well despite comments often made by men (disparaging remarks about ‘women drivers’ – everyone has heard a remark or two) if you look at statistics it appears that male bias against female motorists is misjudged. If statistics are looked into closely, rather than mere here-say or rumour, we can see that women are actually safer drivers. It is proven and documented that they have less severe accidents than their male counterparts. The facts speak for themselves and accuracy or bias within these stats does not come into play, as they are actually compiled by independent driving associations and the car insurance companies themselves.

Statistics show that whilst the number of accidents between the two sexes can be quite similar there is one important factor that is different in their claims, and this is accident severity. Generally speaking, on average, men have crashes or accidents which cause more damage than women and thus claims against their respective car insurance cover are higher. Obviously this is seen as very significant by the insurance company as, on average, the more male motorists they have on their books the greater the claims made against them. They will therefore reflect this in premiums charged to the customer: as men are statistically more likely to make a larger claim, they are charged more for the coverage service to balance out the risk.

So why do women have less severe accidents than men? Well, that is another issue in itself which can cause much heated debate. Many theories look towards the female pattern of driving influence such results and figures. Studies show that they drive shorter distances than men, coupled with a slower style of driving (this is of course, on average – there will always be exceptions to the rule). Clearly with a smaller distance to travel there is less chance if being in an accident (after all, you have to be actually driving in order to crash, or have someone hit you most of the time). And, if travelling slower, there is less impact between two vehicles or a car and a static object. Less impact could mean the difference between the car being a write-off and having a small dent.