General Chat

Apparently from December 2012 there will be no difference between insurance payments of men/women. Why? Is this a ploy by insurance companies to receive more revenue?

As I understood it no matter what insurance was for e.g. life/health/bldgs/contents/car it was done on risk assessment.

Young male teenagers are apt to drive recklessly - not all I hasten to add and make more claims than females of the same age bracket.

Does not make sense except to the coffers - think I should see what price insurance shares are!

Hi Chris : It's a ruling from the idiots in the E.U. - Straight cucumbers & all that! From an equality case in a continental court.

Although the British Insurance companies are assuring us that whilst women's policies will go up, men's will go down - do we really believe that?! They will use this as an excuse to put up women's policies to the same rate as male drivers.- When did car insurance ever come down Aye?
Like I said to my company last year it's a Punto, not a sherman tank! x

I have never been comfortable with the idea of womens' insurance companies.If it was men only insurance companies everybody would be appalled.and quite rightly so'

I am sure there must be other ways to calculate risk, maybe based more upon the driving career of the individual.

Sharron, if you live in a flood area - insurance is higher, where high rate of crime/city as opposed to village etc.

Where we live is heavy clay and causes subsidence - it used to be pay first £500, then £1000 now apparently it is £1500.

Nephew's first car was Escort in a city in North West, garaged in a police station! When he came south his insurance dropped by half.

You cannot base insurance on the driving career of an 18yr old but the higher risk is with the lads not the girls.

surely the benchmark should be the ability/driving record of the driver? not the gender of the applicant?

I mean, you cannot buy experience, you have to earn it.........

similarly not all older drivers are risky drivers?

in My time Ive only ever claimed for windscreen damage.....

Mind you I did at one time have 9 points, but that was for traffic offences not dangerous,or bad driving....

Bob

In my early van driving days I was Mrs Heavyhoof but was only ever caught once. I do remember intimidating a few young men who were not driving fast enough for my liking. How arrogant canyou be heh?

Now I am one of those sedate old biddies I always felt should not be allowed out.

I have to say that around here it is not only young men who drive inconsiderately and recklessly and sad though it is, there are almost as many young women drivers injured or killed in car accidents (as drivers) as young men. And we have a lot.

Around here Ann - it always seems to be the young men within a 10 mile radius sadly who lose their lives.

There are two stretches of straight road a couple of miles away and on each about one tree and sadly they seem to lose control and hit it.

I believe that highway authorities that plant hundreds of signposts alongside roads are to blame for many deaths, If you come off a bike at speed chances are you would get away with it, that is until you hit something, namely trees and signposts,lamposts etc......just once while travelling along a local road have a countup of these hazards , I bet you will be amazed at how many there are!

Bob

I think when this leglislation happens there ought to be clauses brought in that prevent new drivers from having a car full of people.
Most of the fatalities in our area are when young men have one other passenger of a similar age,or the more serious, have a car full. The imagined and real pressure from passengers does affect the way a young man drives. Instead of bumping up the cost they should restrict who can travel as a passenger. Young men will always be reckless so it is up to mature adults to protect them against what they find difficult to acknowledge. -jl

Speed kills and have said it before on these boards that in N.I. for more than 45 years now, after passing test 'R' plates are displayed for a year and speed restricted to 45 mph.

Why not here?

I agree, premiums should be based on the level of risk. The higher the risk of a claim, the higher the premium.

What you are seeing here is the down side of anti-discrimination legislation - the so called benefits are not always what they are made out to be.....!

I wonder if there will be a difference between us biddies and the codgers???- jl

Chris, I have 3 Grandsons who drive in your area. I have no worries about two driving too fast but the youngest does like to impress. Luckily i didn't know when a couple of weeks ago he drove his girlfriend to a uni for an interview and back in one day. The Uni being in Carlisle!!

Oh he was the one who slid off the road before christmas, not on ice but on wet leaves. It had not occurred to him that leaves were slippery. He drives a new corsa and already has a few little dents where he has misjudged things. Mostly the fence by his house!!! Worrying when OH has his car parked next to him!! Fortunately he is moving into a shared student house in July so will not be bombing back and forth to Uni as he can walk from his new accommodation.

Ann - this is the trouble it is the lads who are eager to get driving and have a car, then they have to impress their mates with how fast the car goes, how fast they can drive - girls do not have the same desires. Clothes, hairstyles etc take precedence over car owning.

So the risk factor is higher for lads than girls so pay the price, it is sad but that is life.

Gson been driving for about 4 years now and even OH admits he does not take chances.

I took my test in N.I. and I was 32!!!! But the 'R' plate gave me confidence for that year and other drivers give you leeway. After a year I felt confident to drive that little bit faster. First time I hit the motorways here on mainland as a driver terrified me. I stuck in the inside lane at 45 mph clutching the wheel with white knuckles!!!!

I think it's a good thing - I don't see why a careful male driver should be penalised because of a generalisation. Equality is equality and all that- as far as I can see there are plenty of aggressive and risk taking women drivers about now. The downside is that premiums will go up for women rather than come down for men:)