Posts tagged womens car insurance
Insurance for Older Women
Feb 11th
There have been a spate of articles recently about insurance for older people, and especially older women. This is an area that is a minefield of prejudice and conflicting opinion.
And whilst there is no doubt that the riskiest group of drivers on the road are the young, it is also true to say that elderly people pose a statistically higher risk to insurance companies than those in their middle age. They are, though, categorically much less dangerous than young drivers, and given this, it is surprising how hard it can be for older drivers to arrange insurance.
Many companies appear to be fearful of health-related issues causing accidents, and there are a number of other factors that appear to be at work. Premiums can be pushed up for all older drivers as slowly worsening reactions and the onset of old age result in, usually minor, bumps and knocks. But premiums shoot up faster for women.
Why is this? In many cases women suddenly take up the majority of driving after years of occasional use, when they lose their partner, or if he suffers health issues. Ladies also have longer lifespan and better health on average are also more likely to have a part time job, volunteer and socialise, which puts them on the road more.
All of this, though, should not stop an older driver from obtaining a competitive insurance quote, and although reports suggest that many mainstream companies are not offering insurance to over 80s, or even over-65 year-olds, there are competitive quotes available and we are able to offer and older drivers insurance quote for as long as you are able to safely drive.
And though younger drivers are much riskier, the unfair stereotypes of older drivers and women drivers being dangerous persist. Don’t look now, but, I think I’ve found the culprit:
Dave Wilson on Google+Reverse Parking Nightmare
Jan 19th
It has come to my attention that a certain large energy supplier has told its staff that they must reverse into their parking bays when they arrive at the office. Although this diktat has been issued under the guise of health and safety, the Health and Safety Executive and RoSPA do not seem to agree.
You have to say that although not a major problem for most of us, this peculiar rule will inevitably mean that some employees will have to arrive a good hour earlier. People like this…
Yes, apparently it’s safer…
Our tip, if you work for the company concerned, make sure you have a rock solid car insurance policy!
Don’t tut a woman driver…
Apr 11th
According to the esteemed Asia Insurance Review, researchers at Queensland University in Australia have found that :
A woman who is chided or criticised by her husband or male companion while she is driving is more than twice as likely to have an accident.
Apparently, 168 female students underwent a computer simulated psychological driving test. Half of the group were informed that the test would find out why men were better drivers then women, the other half were simply told the researchers were exploring the mental processes in driving.
Almost half the former group struck a (computerised) pedestrian who appeared suddenly, but only a quarter of the second group did.
The result of this – if women are bad drivers, it’s probably a bloke’s fault, hence womens’ car insurance is cheaper.
Yep, that must have been what happened here. After a quality attempt at parking, this lady is attempting to reverse out for another go.
Saudi Arabia legalises women drivers – are they sure?
Feb 1st
Apparently Saudi Arabia is about to legalise women drivers – Saudi is the last country on earth where women are not allowed to drive.
I’m wondering whether they might reconsider if they see this?
Seriously, though – men are just as bad as we showed recently.
Bonzer Car Insurance Deals?
Oct 29th
G’Day!
The Guardian on Saturday had an interesting piece on the perils of buying your womens car insurance from a so-called “womens car insurance company”, such as Sheila’s Wheels, Diamond, Ladybird and Diva.
Despite jingly and annoying adverts promising massive savings on car insurance to members of the fairer sex, the Guardian’s research found that women might not actually save “a bunch of fivers”, by taking out insurance from the self-proclaimed specialists.
Oh no. In fact, they could end up paying a whole lot more.
When they ran a quote through a well-known insurance price comparison site the womens car insurance companies did not fare as well as expected. Sheila’s Wheels came out at £26 more than the cheapest quote (the stupidly and expensively rebranded LV=), and poor old Diva wanted a whole £94 more.
But if you’re a woman driver, there’s worse news to come, when you hear who else beat Sheila’s Wheels. Other insurance brands that came out cheaper than Sheila’s Wheels included – Halifax Car Insurance, Sainsbury’s Car Insurance and esure.
Hang on a minute! Cast your mind back to my previous post “Who owns your insurer?“
Let’s check that list again, shall we?
- Halifax Insurance – part of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS)
- Sainsbury’s Car Insurance – run by esure (part of HBOS)
- esure – part of HBOS – calm down, dear!
Now remember, all of those came out cheaper in the Guardian’s survey than “women’s specialist” Sheila’s Wheels, who are (let’s just check their website) – oh, yes “a division of esure” and part of HBOS.
So it turns out that (for the examples the Guardian checked, anyway) esure will charge you less, as a woman, than their own specialist women’s “division”.
The Sheila’s Wheels spokeswoman (Niki Bolton) accounted for this by saying that the Sheila’s Wheels policy had bonzer extra features such as:
- Handbag cover (available elsewhere, but almost certainly included in your home insurance!)
- Female Friendly garages (remember if you’ve had an accident and claim on your insurance, it’s down to the insurance company to worry about which repairs are necessary and how much work the garage has actually done. Believe it or not, most insurance companies don’t tend to deal with garages who habitually rip them off or patronise clients and will have their own network of garages who they trust. Plus climbing onto your moral high horse over patronising attitudes is a bit rich if your parent company is responsible for those Michael Winner ads.).
- A 24 hour counselling line for drivers traumatised by an experience on the road. (They don’t say if they provide a similar service for drivers traumatised by the size of their car insurance quote)
Spokesperson, Niki Bolton, is also listed here as PR manager for esure and also speaks for First Alternative. Perhaps if the Guardian had asked her to speak on behalf of esure, she might have told you that all of the above “features” are just pointless trimming and that you should get your insurance from esure instead. And presumably if you are traumatised on the road and ring esure in an emotional state you are put through to Michael Winner who simply tells you to calm down, dear. Sadly we’ll never know.
As the Guardian found, if you want womens car insurance you would do well to look beyond the big spending advertisers who tell you they can save you big money, but in reality charge you a hefty premium for a pink policy document and some flaky add-ons.
Here at Adrian Flux, our specialist womens car insurance schemes save women up to 35% compared to male drivers. Now that’s what I call fair dinkum.