Are insurers being sexist - what should I do?

MartinW

I've just renewed my car insurance but inadvertently got myself (42 year old male) down as policy holder. My common law partner (42 year old female) was a named driver. The quote had a 3 year no claims bonus and was £350 with Bell. Having realised my mistake I have rung up tonight for a quote with my partner as the policy holder with a 5 year no claims bonus. Guess what the quote goes up to £590 with the same insurer although the cheapest is £361. I can get no satisfactory explanation from Bell and so far it seems cheaper to have both cars insured in my name - however in this case would I still have the 3 years no claims (I have taken this from the policy we have for our other car (insured in my name)).We both have 1 SP30 and 2 accidents in the last 3 years. www.confused.com is aptly named - any advice appreciated!

Darean

Insurance quotes change for lots of different reasons, being a male or a female being one of the main ones.

When I got insurance for my recently passed son I was shocked at the difference had he been a girl. It was very tempting to do a quick DIY jobby!

nikki_angel

It is actually cheaper for me, a 24 year old learner driver to be the policy holder with my full licence holder 28 year old male fiance as named driver. If it was the other way around it would be much higher. This is due to the fact that he was only a named driver before and hadn't built up his own no claims.

Badger_Lady

Every insurer has different ratings and will be competitive for different criteria / circumstances. That's why you have to compare - the insurer that's cheapest for a 50-year-old woman may not be anywhere near cheapest for a 25-year-old man.

If Bell are using a panel of insurers, their quote lists will be pretty crazy - sometimes you can get a cheaper quote by reducing your voluntary excess, for example!

I'd take it back to the drawing board and find a new batch of quotes for the correct driver. You may even get it below the original quote.

Debt_Free_Chick

MartinW wrote: »

I've just renewed my car insurance but inadvertently got myself (42 year old male) down as policy holder. My common law partner (42 year old female) was a named driver ...

so far it seems cheaper to have both cars insured in my name ...

I'm confused too!!!!!

The main driver must be policyholder in each case. You cannot be the main driver/policyholder for your partner's car. If you do, you will probably invalidate any future claim.

You will need a policy each, for the car you own (or at least, the car you mainly drive), with the other being a named driver.