Why Do Women Pay Less?

By Author: Norris Rios
Total Articles: 572
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It's a funny thing but most stand-up comedians are men and one of their standard targets is women drivers. Perhaps it's a reflection of male insecurity, but men like to mock women, particularly when the evidence is that women are safer drivers than men. That's right. Every piece of evidence shows women get into fewer traffic accidents, have fewer tickets and, if there is an accident, cause less damage. When it comes to collecting details of traffic accidents, there's no-one more careful to get all the evidence than insurance companies. They make their profit from being right about which groups of drivers are most likely to have an accident and then charging them the right premiums. Ask the actuaries about accidents in a particular make and model of car at a particular time of day or night, and the answer will come back as a set of percentages ranking the classes or groups of drivers as most likely to be involved. By convention, drivers are grouped first according to their age and experience. Young and inexperienced drivers are most likely to have an accident, and this statistical reality encourages insurance companies to impose ...
... higher premium rates on them. For these purposes, drivers become mature at the age of 25. Is there a standard rate for all young drivers? No, the rate changes depending on who you are and where you live. If you have been through driving instruction courses approved by your state's insurance companies, have a good GPA and are moving on to college, you have started down the right track for discounts. As the years pass, these discounts will grow if you avoid traffic tickets and accidents. The record shows women are more likely to go through the courses, often have better GPAs and pick up fewer tickets. The only way for young men to get these discounts is to be more like girls of their age, i.e. drive within the law and more slowly.

Once we get into the post-25 range, the statistical differences grow wider. Women are less likely to commute long distances to work, will usually take the train or an airplane instead of driving long distances on holiday or other special occasions, and consistently commit fewer moving violations than the men. Because they drive more slowly, there is less damage if they are involved in an accident. On every point, they represent a lower risk than men and are rewarded with lower premiums solely based on their gender. How big a saving? It depends on the company. If the women stay in a general pool of drivers, their savings will be less because, to some extent, their good driving subsidizes the poor male driving. The best rates are in the women-only policies. Only when women get significantly older, i.e. beyond the age of 75 years, when their eyesight is growing weaker and the reflexes are not as fast, will the premiums go up again. All older drivers have more accidents, albeit not as many as the young.

When you are looking for the policy that's right for you, start with the car insurance quotes you get through this site. But then look carefully at the websites of the companies with the best quotes. Do they have women-only policies? If they do, you should speak to the companies directly. Use the car insurance quotes you have received as the starting point and see whether the gender-based policy offers real savings. In most cases, it will.