Compare car insurance quotes for women

When the European Court of Justice passed the Gender Directive in 2012, a number of insurers, including some that were already in the market, responded by raising their profile as pro-women car insurers. 

In some cases, the companies were driven by a feeling that the Gender Directive was unfair, given the far-safer driving record of women drivers. 

Some specific insurers for women regularly publish survey results that show how much safer women drivers continue to be. 

In short, apart from offering female-friendly policy benefits, such as handbag cover, they campaign on behalf of women drivers.

Insurers consider the age of prospective policyholders, just as they look at other factors, such as where you live and what you drive. When it comes to age, if you’re under 25 you’ll pay more because you won’t have much road experience. 

Drivers over 60 also tend to pay more because they are seen as more likely to have picked up bad habits in the many years since passing their driving test, and their reflexes might not be as sharp as they once were. 

Incidentally, the age issue is one that is shared equally between male and female drivers.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) made it illegal for insurance companies to take gender into account when calculating the cost of insurance (a man successfully challenged that women should not get cheaper insurance than him).

But car insurance premiums did not rise dramatically for many female drivers (and they certainly did not drop for men). This was because the other criteria insurance companies use may mean many men still pay more for insurance.

Men tend to work in professions where more driving is required, or do more driving when not at work and insurers consider these factors more risky. In early 2020 research showed that of the nearly 15 million car insurance enquiries made, men paid £581 on average for their premiums, compared to women who paid £460 on average.

Insurance quotes are dependent on a multitude of factors such as age, area and driving history.

Women still get cheaper insurance because:

However, a ruling made by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) made it illegal for insurance companies to take gender into account when calculating the cost of insurance (a man successfully challenged that women should not get cheaper insurance than him).

The core levels of insurance – comprehensive, third-party, fire and theft and third-party only – are the same as those for men, and of course, it’s illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their gender. 

That doesn’t stop them from offering added benefits that are perceived as being more attractive to women looking for car insurance. These include cover for handbags and what’s in them, specialist telephone counselling services for policyholders following an incident and an emphasis on standard policy features, such as child car seat cover. Of course, some of these benefits will appeal to male drivers, although they’re unlikely to feature so prominently in marketing campaigns aimed at men.

It’s possible to add your partner or any other qualified driver to your insurance policy as a named driver. The only stipulation is that as the registered driver or owner you must do the majority of driving. 

This practice is a form of fraud called ‘fronting’. This is where you get another person, typically a parent, to buy car insurance and put you down as a named driver despite the fact that you’ll be doing most of the driving. Although this might seem a good way to get cheaper insurance, it’s actually fraud and could land both you and your ‘main driver’ in a lot of hot water. If caught, you could face criminal charges and struggle to find affordable insurance thereafter.

Black box insurance can help reduce your car insurance over a period of time. A small device is installed in your car that measures how fast you drive, when you brake, what time of day you drive, how quickly you accelerate and how you drive around corners. Some black boxes include an app which you can access on your phone.

If you drive safely you may be rewarded with cheaper monthly premiums.