Sex Discrimination?

Question

In the madness of correctness etc how can some insurance companies openly offer better deals for women drivers. I thought the premium was based on the vehicle/value/previous claims etc, not on your sex. Surely ALL women drivers aren't better than ALL men drivers ...... are they?

Answer 1

Actuaries use statistics to rate drivers. Their research goes back for years. Women just live safer lives than men, less testosterone perhaps, but that is one of the reasons women live longer than men.
also-
Mothers are safer than non mothers.

Twenty-five and over drivers are better than those under twenty-five.

Because the rates are backed up by facts, It's not discrimination.

They rate life insurance by jobs and lifestyle (Smoker/Non smoker) and that's not discrimination either. When they did it strictly by race, it was.

Answer 2

Statistically women cause lower total claim payouts than men. Some studies have shown that women may cause more accidents, but the severity and subsequent cost to the insurance industry is much lower.

Discrimmination based on gender is prohibited only if it is a non-merit factor. In this case, it clearly is and can be proven.

Taken as a whole and based on the cost to the insurance industry, women ARE better drivers than men. Thence the lower premiums.

Answer 3

It is true that not ALL women drivers are better than ALL men drivers but the average women is a significantly better driver than the average man claims, tickets, vehicles etc being equal. A few states ban gender based rates, but most do not. You are charged for the risk based upon the average and standard deviation of the pool of drivers you are classed into. Life and disability insurance are the same way.

It flips for health insurance. Women spend very significant amounts of money on health care compared to men.

The only forbidden classifications are those banned under the Civil Rights Act. If it were not so, many religious groups have been shown to warrant significantly improved rates over the general public. In fact, religious based insurance fraternals exist and they have the best rate structures in the United States. As they are extensions of Churches, they are not covered under the discrimination laws against religious bias in pricing. They don't charge people of different religions different rates, but they only insure their own members so you do get religion based pricing.

I teach a class on financial decision making and I request quotes on insurance for a variety of things. The best insurance quote always comes from a religious fraternal for life insurance. It provides six times the benefit of the worst public quote for the same amount of dollars for traditional whole life and compares very favorably with a corporate bond fund.

Some states make the rate structures of auto insurers public and useable. In my state, there is a copy of every offering companies' rates on hypothetical vehicles, people, marital status and ages in the courthouses. You can get an apples to apples comparison on every offering company for specific ages, points and vehicle values.

Answer 4

Appreciate what you're saying. Women tend to have less crashes than men though so even if you're a really careful male driver you'll still be in the same block of statistics as all the boy racers, etc. But where do you draw the line? Parhaps if one race crashes less than another, would they have a white people only insurance company, or a green eyes only insurance company or one for people that don't need glasses, or one for hard rock fans only....??

Answer 5

Overall female drivers cost the insurance companies less than male drivers. I wonder if part of the reason might be: when a man and a woman are both in the same car, the man is more likely to be driving.

Answer 6

Premium is based on lumping "like risk groups" together. Young men, in general, have more accidents than young women, therefore, it's fair to discriminate based on gender.

Likewise, men die sooner than women, so men's LIFE insurance costs more - more likelihood of a claim.

It's not about "absolutes" such as saying ALL women are better than ALL men. It's about the Law of Large Numbers. You can do a yahoo search on that if you want to know more.

Answer 7

Its all about risk and on the whole (not all the time of course) women run fewer risks that men. You will find statistically, less women appear in Court for driving offences than men. Women tend to get less speeding tickets, all of these things concern risk -who is more likely to be a risk men or women - well men drivers are a bigger risk generally. Why shouldn't you use facts to discriminate - I am all for it, like should good people be rewarded with good things - yes they should. Should bad people be punished - yes they should - is this discrimination - yes it is.

Answer 8

From having taken Insurance Certification Training for a previous job, I've learned that women are statistically safer drivers. They are less prone to be aggressive (not to be confused with assertive) drivers. Women are more alert to their surroundings and have quicker reflexes. Women are more aware of the dangers of driving with regards to their typical passengers: their children.

Answer 9

No, of course not. But insurance is based on risk assessment - and the fact is that women are statistically safer drivers than men. And, any accidents that they do have, tend to be less severe.

Answer 10

Just about all the people who have tried to run me down, ignore the lights, shout abuse, etc, are male. It seems 90% of men see driving as a life or death struggle, where their status and manhood are threatned every inch of the way. Women do tend to be better drivers, as they rarely allow their emotions to get in the way. A liitle boy, in charge of a one-tonne piece of metal, travelling at 60mph, is one frightening prospect.