Should women pay less for their car insurance?

‘Women drivers – they don’t know what they’re doing!’

It’s a statement that’s meant as an insult whenever a man falls victim to some erratic female behavior on the roads. Of course if another male causes a problem, the response is never ‘male drivers – they don’t know what they’re doing’ because men, traditionally, are the motoring experts. However, it seems our car insurance providers disagree. Car insurance companies will typically offer lower quotes to women than men. In fact, there are even a host of car insurers across the UK that deal almost exclusively with female clientele – such as Sheila’s Wheels and Diamond – because they claim they can offer lower car insurance quotes to women thanks to the reduced costs they have to make through claims payouts.

So are women really better drivers than men after all? And who really deserves lower car insurance premiums?

Who deserves lower car insurance premiums?

There have been many surveys and counter surveys attempting to prove one sex to be superior to the other behind the wheel. For example, in January 2007, research by Carnegie Mellon University in the USA found that male drivers have a 77 per cent higher risk of dying in a car accident than women. These statistics were re-affirmed by John Hopkins School of Medicine and Public Health, which found that men are three times more likely to be killed when they crash. However, the same study also reported that women are more likely to be involved in crashes than men. American women were involved in 5.7crashes per million miles driven, whereas male drivers clocked up just 5.1crashes over the same distance. What appears to be a common trend throughout the numerous studies conducted into the driving records of men and women is that when men crash the results tend to be far worse and often lead to fatalities. It is believed that men take more risks than women in most areas of life and as a result they suffer disproportionately when it comes to car insurance. Even though women are involved in a similar number of accidents, they generally tend to be less serious. This means that they are less expensive from an insurance point of view. The consensus is that women tend to drive more slowly and with more caution than men on the road.

Why you can’t rely on specialist car insurance providers

If you’re a female driver it’s obviously tempting to pick up a car insurance quote from a female-only provider. If statistically women are involved in fewer high-cost accidents than men, then you should be able to pick up lower premiums from female-only insurers. However, the reality is that these specialist providers are not necessarily the cheapest. Statistics produced by a price comparison website earlier this year showed that a 30-year-old woman with a Ford Focus, Renault Megane or Vauxhall Astra will typically pick up a premium of £269 through women-only brands. However, the same woman driving the same car could pick up a quote as low as £174 through more traditional providers. The reason for is that most car insurance providers acknowledge that women are less of a risk to insure than men and reflect this in their quotes. Their advertising campaigns may not be built around a female only group and indeed they may not offer exclusive features such as ‘personal items' or 'handbag' cover’ that is available from specialist insurers. However, they could potentially offer cheaper premiums for broadly the same level of cover.

How women can cut car insurance costs

Generally speaking, women have an advantage over their male counterparts in the car insurance sector. However, if they pick up bad habits than they can expect to pay a man-sized premium. The key therefore is to keep your driving record clean and build up a no-claims discount if possible. Educate yourself about motoring too, to prove that it’s not a male-only area of expertise, and undertake an advanced driving course, which could slash your premiums. Also think about how you pay your car insurance premiums. Paying monthly can cost around 24 per cent extra every year due to the interest charged. If you can afford to pay off your car insurance in one annual payment, then do so. Look to enhance the security of your car too as women are generally more vulnerable to theft than men.

Above all however, it’s vital to find the right car insurance quote to begin with so shop around and compare all the deals available to take advantage of your billing as the superior motoring sex.