As of this Friday (21st December 2012), it will be illegal for insurers to offer different premiums to men and women based on their gender alone.
Insurance companies have slowly been phasing their price changes in recent weeks, with new pricing required to be in place from the 21st of the month.
As a result, prices for women will rise, while men’s premiums will drop. The changes will be most pronounced for young drivers – female drivers under 25 could see a 25% hike according to the British Insurance Brokers Association. Men could see a more modest fall in cost of around 10%.
The change is designed to make things fairer for the customer, however women have gotten used to cheaper premiums over the years – and the change in the law could price some young female drivers off the road.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) released a report yesterday entitled “A safer start for young drivers” in which it calls for an overhaul in how young people learn to drive.
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The main proposals put forward are as follows:
Learners to be prevented from relying on an intensive driving course to pass their test
The introduction of a new “graduated” licence for the first six months after passing a test. During this period young drivers would be banned from:
Carrying more then a certain number of passengers -
Driving between 11pm and 4am, unless driving to and from work/college
Having any amount of blood alcohol detected – a zero tolerance approach to drink driving
The age at which young drivers can start learning to drive would be lowered from 17 to 16 and a half.
The proposals seek to reduce crashes by banning young drivers from statistically dangerous situations.
Similar schemes have been adopted in the US, Canada and New Zealand, with reported success. Powerful statistics backed up some claims, including the fact that fatality risk quadrouples when you have three passengers compared to driving on your own.
What do you think of this approach? It’s a nice thought that young drivers could manage their own driving given the proper education, though will it in fact take a stronger approach from the government to change habits? Let us know what you think!
