By: Taranjit | Last Updated: November 2, 2020
We all want to save money on insurance. It’s expensive after all., and there are so many factors that you can control to help reduce your premium or get as many discounts as possible. For example, having good grades or being a safer driver, but the one factor you can’t control is your gender.
Yes. Your gender plays a role in what your premium will be.
Insurance companies use risk to assess how much your premium should be, and it makes complete sense. They will charge you more if they feel like you will be involved in more accidents or reasons to have to use your insurance. And one of the factors they use to assess said risk is your gender.
You have probably heard that males are more likely to get in accidents or are speed demons on the road, so there insurance is higher. This is true, but for young male drivers; whereas, females tend to have higher insurance than males in their 40s or older.
Young male drivers have been found to pay about 14% more than young female drivers. This is because young male drivers are just riskier drivers. They are highly more likely to engage in (for lack of better words) “stupid” activity while behind the wheel, and in order to compensate for this high risk, insurance companies crank up that premium.
But, as you get older, the opposite becomes true. According to the Zebra, female drivers have been found to pay around 1% more than male drivers. Which makes me wonder why is that? Do women become more risker drivers as they get older? Or is this just another gender inequality thing?
States where gender doesn’t play a role in premium
Isn’t it unfair that your gender determines whether you will be given a higher or lower insurance premium?
Well, you will be happy to hear that not all states take gender into consideration when giving your premium. And I personally feel, more states should follow on this. Premium rates should be based on who you are as a driver, not your gender.
The following 6 states haven’t considered gender when calculating insurance rates since the 1970s and 1980s (this was after the start of the women’s right movement):
If you are not in the above listed states, be prepared to have your gender taken into consideration. In fact, female drivers, especially those between 40 and 60, are the age group that has been found to pay more for insurance than males despite the two genders being equal in all other criteria. Unfair, right?
On the bright side, California has recently outlawed gender as being a determining factor for insurance premium rates. And I sure hope that more states follow in their footsteps and not just judge a driver based on their gender.
Final thoughts
It has long been believed that males pay more for insurance than females. Males have just been thought to be riskier drivers and cause more serious accidents. In fact, according to NHTSA, males have caused 6.1 million accidents per year, whereas females caused 4.4 million. Despite this statistic, females are still more likely to pay a higher premium. But on the bright side, having a good and safe driving history can help in lowering the premium no matter your gender, so be the safe and smart driver.
Comment below your thoughts on gender playing a role in determining premiums. I would love to hear from you guys and whether you personally have higher rates because of your gender.
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