Women drivers' insurance threat

New legislation could penalise women drivers

Women drivers may have to pay more for car insurance if Europe extends sex discrimination legislation, a House of Lords committee has warned.

The European Commission (EC) wants to extend sex discrimination legislation to cover goods and services.

The EC proposal would mean firms could no longer use gender to assess premiums for insurance, pensions and annuities.

The House of Lords committee said younger men had far worse accidents and conviction records, so should pay more.

The committee said the EC needed to rethink the impact of its proposals.

'Anomalies'

EU ministers are due to discuss a draft directive which proposes to ban sex discrimination in the supply of goods and services at a meeting in Brussels on 4 October.

When companies set premiums for newly-qualified drivers with no track record, gender matters Lord Williamson of Horton, chairman of the inquiry

Home Office statistics quoted in the Lords' report show that men consistently committed more than 85% of serious motoring offences, including 97% of dangerous driving offences.

"As they stand, the proposals will lead to anomalies and inconsistencies," said the Chairman of the Inquiry, Lord Williamson of Horton.

"In time, gender can and should be taken out of most calculations for car insurance premiums. But when companies set premiums for newly-qualified drivers with no track record, gender matters."

Annuity concerns

Lord Williamson also said that the commission must take into consideration the UK annuity market, the biggest in Europe.

In contrast to car premiums, it is men who could lose out if gender considerations were scrapped in the pricing of annuities - an income in retirement.

This is because men, generally, have a lower life expectancy than women, a fact which means they receive more generous payments.

This could have a knock-on effect on female incomes, Lord Williamson said, as many women depend on the annuities of male breadwinners.