Age discrimination - young drivers

AlisonCVS

2sides2everystory wrote: »

He's a very good driver. He's a very very good driver

Oh but c'mon dunstonh, the premiums charged for the presence of a young driver on a policy are absolutely extortionate now compared to when we were asked to pay a bit extra

It costs an extra £1,000 a year to insure my son on his Mum's car even with full bonus, and he most definitely is not the main user plus the excess if he has a prang is stil horrendous.

It IS age discrimination and always has been. Age is not a valid proxy for risk of a motor accident. In general terms claims costs tend to be inflated in the younger driver group drivers but the actual traits that cause young drivers to be a greater risk are the same traits as cause older drivers to be a greater risk. It is those that should be underwritten not age itself.

Anyhow, this will soon be outlawed, and I think the insurance companies are just making hay while the sun still shines on their patch. I don't think it will for much longer.

Well said. The premiums when I was a teen were not as high in proportion to my parents as they are for youngsters now.

AlisonCVS

ACG wrote: »

You should be VERY careful before signing this.

If you think insurance companies will decrease insurance for younger drivers your WRONG. They will just increase everyone elses.

Nobody expects insurance to do anything other than increase once the law comes into force so be very careful what you wish for.

My apologies for not replying to you - I thought I had got everyone.

I am well aware that the inurance companies are only ever out to make a quick buck - the politicians and legal bods who think they are being so clever crying "discrimination" every left right and centre are once again ensuring that the average guy is screwed over.

Whilst I do believe that it is unfair on our responsible and hardworking youngsters to bear the brunt of previous and current bad behaviour of others, my point more broadly is that the whole gender/age/anything-else discrimination flag being waved at every opportunity is actually working against us when it is inappropriately used. And this is the case as regards motor insurance.

AlisonCVS

dunstonh wrote: »

Stuck in the car park....

Lol! You are livin' dangerously fella!

dacouch

AlisonCVS wrote: »

Well said. The premiums when I was a teen were not as high in proportion to my parents as they are for youngsters now.

Things have changed dramatically insurance wise since you were a teen, in those days the "Knock for Knock" agreement existed which in effect artificially subsidised the young driver insurers and probably knocked around 30% off the true premium.

"No Win No Fee" did not exist so personal injury claims (Which are especially expensive and more common for young drivers) and no credit hires.

Interest rates and investment returns were much higher which helped reduce premiums.

There are a number of other reasons including the Insurers being able to use their data more accurately to see which sectors they get the claims from. This tends to mean the safer drivers pay less (And are targeted more by the insurers) and drivers who have more claims/more expensive claims pay higher premiums and are often not wanted by the majority of insurers so supply and demand comes into effect

Just_Some_Guy

The ban on gender was and remains completely stupid. Insurance is fundamentally a statistics game and it is statistically accepted by everyone who knows how to add up that age and sex are two of the most important bits of information around when it comes to figuring out how risky a driver is. Banning their use is dumb.

Just because you don't like the facts doesn't stop them being true.

keith1950

I think I am a pretty safe driver and in all honesty the worst drivers I see are males over 30/35. They are overly confident and have an arrogance about their driving.

OK, there are good male drivers and bad male drivers, but the over confidence you mention is more likely to be down to experience rather than arrogance.

With experience you become more capable of reading the road and anticipating what might occur in the next half mile or so.

I would not call myself a 'good' driver , but I am a safe driver.

I have now done over 3 millions miles and have a lot of bad driving habits but know my capabilties and stay within them.

Insurance premiums should be based on perceived statistical risk.

I find the worst drivers are the overly caution ones, ( usually woman ) who potter about holding everybody up. People who stop at every roundabout even though its obvious theres nothing approaching from the right.

Young drivers tend to have accidents , not because some of them are particularly poor drivers but they don't have the experience to anticipate what might happen and therefore sometimes just plough into another car when an experienced driver would have avoided the situation.

It's all down to experience and once they have the experience their premiums will fall.

Maybe all new/young drivers should have to legally have their cars fitted with monitoring devices linked to their insurance for the first couple of years.

InsideInsurance

AlisonCVS wrote: »

dont want to subsidise inferior male drivers but I am going to have to!!!

But as always its swings and round abouts as from a purely theoretical point of view your Motor insurance will go up but your Life insurance will come down. Of cause we'll all wait and see if theory becomes reality.

Idiophreak

Ironically, the only way to implement something like this is to stop treating people like individuals.....You need to "zoom out" and make your search filter less specific. So, women pay more, men pay less. Old people pay more, young people pay less. Great idea for young men. Not such a great idea for old women

mikey72

Idiophreak wrote: »

Ironically, the only way to implement something like this is to stop treating people like individuals.....You need to "zoom out" and make your search filter less specific. So, women pay more, men pay less. Old people pay more, young people pay less. Great idea for young men. Not such a great idea for old women

That is the principal of insurance though.
Everyone pays a small amount into the pot, and the insurer pays out as required.
Maybe it is getting too specific.

Idiophreak

mikey72 wrote: »

That is the principal of insurance though.
Everyone pays a small amount into the pot, and the insurer pays out as required.
Maybe it is getting too specific.

But the more specific it is, the fairer it is....