WOMEN drivers have long endured sexist jokes about their parking skills because, safe in the knowledge that they are better drivers and cause fewer accidents, they pay lower car insurance premiums than the more reckless males.

But men might soon gain an advantage if an EU directive to ban gender discrimination becomes law. It would force UK insurers to offer uniform price quotes to both sexes.

Andrew Briscoe, managing director of AA Insurance Services, says: “Women have a more cautious driving style and suffer less catastrophic accidents than men. Women’s insurance claims tend to be smaller, and underwriters reward this by passing on lower premiums.”

But under a new one-price policy, the UK’s 15 million women drivers would have to pay premiums equal to those for men, and younger women could face the highest increases. The AA says that a 17-year-old male now pays £3,806 a year to insure a 1.4 litre Ford Focus, while a 17-year-old girl pays £1,368 less.

As they get older, the difference diminishes as the total drops. A 30-year-old man would pay £409 a year, while a woman of equal age would pay only £367. Mr Briscoe says that under the EU proposals “women would be penalised by subsidising the premiums for more risky, male drivers”.

The EU directive could also have wideranging implications for the insurance industry as a whole, because age, occupation and home postcode could be excluded from the pricing process.

Pricing of premiums would be decided only on the basis of previous convictions, claims and information about the car. Malcolm Tarling, of the Association of British Insurers, says: “This is not a question of discrimination. Gender can be a factor in risk assessment, and risk assessment is what underpins all forms of insurance.”

He adds a warning that there might also be implications for life and health insurance premiums if the EU proposal becomes law.

Grainne Gilmore