Young female motorists have traditionally enjoyed much lower car insurance premiums than their male counterparts, due to the fact they are statistically less likely to make a claim. However under the EU Gender Directive, which took effect on December 21st 2012, insurers are no longer able to use gender as a factor when pricing insurance and young women are seeing their premiums being pushed up in price in 2013.
The latest Confused.com/Towers Watson Car Insurance Price Index reveals the average quoted comprehensive premiums for 17-20 year old women rose by a staggering 20.7% across the UK over the last 12 months. This is the biggest yr-on-yr jump from one quarter to the next the industry has ever reported (+19.3%).
The average comprehensive car insurance price now stands at £736 as of Q1 2013, compared with £816 this time last year, a yr-on-yr decrease of £80 (-9.8%). For Third Party Fire and Theft cover only, average premiums for Q1 stood at £1,169, showing a slight increase of 1.0% yr-on-yr and a further increase of 2.7% quarter on quarter.
You can check the average cost of a comprehensive policy based on region, age and gender by using our simple tool below.
