Why Gender Is A Factor In Online Car Insurance Quotes
As most drivers are aware of, knowing your risk factors is helpful when you're trying to find a low quote for your car insurance. Some of these risk factors are easy to understand, like a driver's record. However, others can't be manipulated to yield a better rate for drivers. This is particularly true where gender is concerned. Gender and car insurance rates are very closely linked, as car insurance companies regularly charge more to male drivers. Finding great insurance quotes for a male driver is still possible, but many drivers are interested in why car insurance companies adjust their premiums based on the gender of a policyholder.
Insurance companies base all of their policy rate decisions on complex actuarial tables. These tables hold an enormous amount of statistical information, and they can help an insurer to determine the chances that a certain driver will make a claim. Male drivers make far more claims than female drivers, especially when they're young. Male drivers between the ages of 16 and 21 are considered to be one of the more dangerous groups to insurance companies. Gender and car insurance are linked, so car insurance companies raise their rates for male drivers and lower their rates for female drivers. The exact amount of the difference in rates will vary depending on a number of other factors, including the drivers' locations, their vehicle models, and other considerations that can affect the likelihood of a car insurance claim.
However, gender's effect on car insurance rates is also linked to the age of the driver. The discrepancy between male and female drivers fades somewhat as male drivers get older. Moreover, past the age of 65, it actually reverses-female drivers pay more for car insurance in old age than their male counterparts. Again, this is due to a difference in accident statistics between men and women. There are various theories on why young male drivers and older female drivers tend to be more dangerous than the opposite sex, but regardless of the reason, car insurance rates are affected for those age and gender groups.
There's nothing that drivers can do to alter their gender, and as a result, some drivers believe that car insurance companies shouldn't be allowed to consider gender when deciding car insurance rates. Car insurance companies are prevented by law from using other potentially discriminatory pricing, and they can't assign higher or lower rates due a driver's race, ethnicity or disability. However, it's currently legal for insurers to use gender, and unless legislation changes that fact, a driver's sex will affect his or her chances of finding great insurance quotes.
