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Insurance

Women’s car insurance to leap £100

Tahmina Mannan
Written By:
Tahmina Mannan
Posted:
Updated:
13/11/2012

Female drivers are still unaware of the looming £100 increase in their car insurance once new European legislation kicks in next month.

Up to 91% of female drivers are likely to be caught out by a £100 increase in their car insurance, while 88% of consumers fail to understand how the introduction of new European Court of Justice rules in December will financially impact them.

According to new research from Consumer Intelligence, there will be price rises for many groups of people as a result of the introduction of gender neutral pricing, across life and health insurance products as well as the more widely publicised car insurance.

Analysis of pricing changes revealed that an individual’s car insurance premiums could increase by as much as 25% because of the new rules, depending on their individual circumstances.

Health insurance premiums could rise by as much as 20% and life insurance by as much as 30%.

Ian Hughes, chief executive of Consumer Intelligence, said: “These changes will have a significant effect on consumers, but a significant number of people, especially women, still aren’t aware of the potential impact they will have on their finances. And if they are aware, they don’t seem to know when.

“We would urge consumers to look into buying or switching insurance products now if they want to save themselves money before the December 21st deadline.”

However, the findings reveal that 84% of men and 91% of women are unaware that they could be affected by the changes.

And of those who were aware of the Gender Directive, only half – 6% of all respondents – knew that it would come into force on December 21st.

The average woman currently pays £102 less than their male counterpart, with the figure much higher for younger drivers.

Therefore, the findings show that 9 in 10 women could receive a “completely unexpected” price hike of £100 or more after Christmas. In some cases the difference can be as much as £3,000 for younger drivers.

Consumers are being urged to shop around before the new legislation kicks into place, as securing a new deal on their insurance products could mean some consumers can hold off paying the higher prices for a while.