EU to Women: Sorry, No More Cheaper Car Insurance

Insurance firms ordered to stop sex discrimination
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2011 3:26 AM CST
EU Nixes Lower Insurance for Safer Women Drivers
Women drivers under 29 are around six times less likely to crash than their male counterparts.   (Shutterstock)

European women will no longer enjoy cheaper car insurance because of their sex's safer driving habits. A European Union court has made it illegal for insurance companies to base premiums on gender-based risk assessment, CNN reports. Millions of women drivers, who previously enjoyed car insurance up to 50% cheaper than their male counterparts because of male drivers' much higher accident rate, now face a hefty hike in premiums.

The ruling is "a setback for common sense," complained one member of the European Parliament. "It is a statistical reality that young men have more accidents than women so it should be reflected in their premiums." The ruling, however, isn't all bad news for women: insurance companies will no longer be allowed to charge women higher prices for retirement annuities based on their longer life expectancy. (More auto insurance stories.)

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