Do women get cheaper car insurance quotes?

Do car insurance quotes for women tend to be cheaper? Yes, they do. I've tested it. Men tend generally to poof poof the claim, if you'll excuse the phrase, that women are better drivers than men. "They may not have as many accidents but they definitely cause most of them," snipped my boyfriend after driving into a pole while he had his hand on my knee.

There have been numerous studies conducted that appear to back the feminine claim that they are better drivers. Men are more aggressive on the road, more likely to drive under the influence of alcohol, more likely to be involved in head on collisions and roll-overs. Statistically, more men die in road accidents. Women, these studies claim, are more likely to be found reversing into stationary objects (whilst applying lipstick no doubt). But men get back into the verbal boxing ring with convincing counterarguments. Studies don't take into consideration the average distance travelled by either sex, men say. "Hitting stationery objects or reversing into parked cars reflects driving skill," points out an indignant male in a forum posting on the internet.

The fact is that women do pay less for their car insurance because they claim less. Whether this is an indication of them being better drivers, I don't know. What we do know is that statistically women drivers are less likely to have accidents and make fewer insurance claims, which means that they are a lower risk to insurance companies who generally offer females policies for lower monthly premiums than they do males.

It's purely business sense. Drivers with white cars pay lower insurance premiums because their cars are more visible. If you have comprehensive anti-theft devices installed in your car, the chances of your car being stolen are less. It makes sense and insurance actuaries have done the math.

Don't believe me? Try it for yourself.

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Insurance industry portals on the web enable you to quickly make comparisons between different insurance policies. Enter a few basic personal details, select your vehicle's make and model, and voila. Instantly compare a whole bunch of quotes from different insurance companies. Okay. It's not as simple as all that; the cost of monthly premiums are just one factor you need to take into consideration when insuring your vehicle, but online insurance comparison web sites can give you a ball park figure of the monthly premium for the item you wish to insure.

So that's what I did. Using the same parameters for age, place of residence, marital status etc., I applied for a quote for comprehensive insurance for my 2008 Beetle 1800 T, first in the guise of a male persona and then as a female persona.

Every single insurance company offered me with my female hat on a lower monthly premium. Interestingly, quotes from insurance companies specialising in covering female drivers were not generally lowest in the shopping list of insurance companies, but they did offer women lower rates than quoted for males. I couldn't resist another test, adding 10 years to my fictitious drivers' ages. While the premiums didn't rise equivalently, the excess did!

The difference between premiums for females and males ranged between from a mere 3 percent to a whopping 20 percent.

The fact is that women CLAIM less and lower auto insurance premiums for women are simply a practical response by insurance actuaries to the statistics.

Women, incidentally, also receive more for their money, e.g., free roadside assistance. Can we really put this down to a marketing ploy?

Still skeptical despite the fact it makes sense from a business point of view? Think about this. Ever wondered why your marital status is queried when you apply for an insurance quote? Apparently married people are safer drivers than single folk.

Actuarial science is not based on emotive bias or political expediency; it's about statistics. Until studies have been conducted that prove once and for all which sex is the better driver, we have nothing to go on except statistics that make financial sense and keep the shareholders happy.