A ruling from the European Court of Justice means that from 21st December, the way insurance quotes are priced up is going to be significantly different for men and women in the EU. Insurers will no longer be able to use gender as a basis for the amount they charge for insurance, whereas previously women had enjoyed significantly lower insurance premiums than men due to their statistically lower chance of being involved in an accident.
Unfortunately the price change does not mean that men will be paying much less to reflect the amount that women had been charged on average over the past few years; rather men’s insurance premiums will lower slightly, and women’s will shoot up. This means it’s more important than ever to ensure you’re paying as little as possible for your insurance. Some things to take into consideration:
Always shop around for automotive insurance rates
If you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the cheapest car insurance policy you have available to you, that doesn’t mean that the policy will still be the cheapest in a year’s time when you come to renew it. Finding new quotes for cheap car each year will ensure that you’re never paying more than the minimum amount.
Don’t duplicate policies
If your insurance policy also contains breakdown cover, then there is absolutely no need to pay for it separately. Something many people forget to do is cancel their existing breakdown cover if they take out an insurance policy that contains cover where their previous one did not.
Reduce your driving risk
It’s easy to say “drive more safely”, but people who slow down slightly on a motorway will not only reduce their risk of having an accident – and therefore having to make a claim – they will also pay a lot less for petrol or diesel over the course of a year.
