Car makes and models
Car makes and models
Another factor that can influence car insurance price is the make and model of your car. Cars that are rare, powerful and more expensive are deemed to be a higher risk for insurance providers, and this may lead to higher premiums.
As with occupations, we ranked 900 car makes and models from those with the most expensive average premiums (1) to the least (900).3
Distribution of men and women by car make and model
Distribution of men and women by car make and model
While the difference between men and women was less pronounced than with occupations, a greater proportion of men owned cars that fell into the higher brackets. According the data, 3% of men entered a car make and model with one of the 100 most expensive average premiums, compared to just 1% of women.
This difference may seem small but the average premiums for the top 100 cars are significantly higher - £978.28 compared to £456.83 for the remaining makes and models – which means even a small difference could be contributing to a price disparity for men and women.
This trend also continued for cars outside the top 100 - male enquirers were more likely to say they owned of the 400 cars with the highest premiums, whereas female enquirers were more likely than men to say they owned a vehicle in the bottom 500.
Insurance groups
Insurance groups
The make and model of your car determines which insurance group it belongs to, which helps to determine your premium.
Each vehicle type is assigned an insurance group, from 1 to 50, with higher premiums associated with the higher number groups. While the correlation between insurance group and premium isn’t always strictly linear, people with vehicles in higher insurance groups tend to pay more.
Our data reveals that men are consistently overrepresented in groups at the higher end of the spectrum.
Nearly one in five male enquirers (18%) were classed as being in the top 20 groups, while two in five (40%) were in the top 30. In contrast, only 7% and 21% of women fell into those same groups, with over three quarters (79%) appearing in the bottom 20.
Distribution of men and women by insurance group
Distribution of men and women by insurance group
Car usage
Car usage
Our research revealed another factor that may be influencing the price difference between men and women.
Data suggests drivers who select ‘social only’ for their car usage type may incur higher premium prices. Only 38% of women selected this option, compared to 42% of men.
The difference in the responses given by male and female enquirers to this question is, however, quite low, and therefore the impact on respective price for each gender is likely to be minimal. But, coupled with some of the more significant differences, it could be playing some part in the overall trend.
How to lower your car insurance premiums
How to lower your car insurance premiums
Insurers, by law, cannot offer different prices to drivers based on their gender, but we see differences in the amounts paid by men and women on average.
There are many factors that determine price and the likelihood is that men more regularly fit the profile of a ‘risky’ driver, which would lead to car insurance providers charging them more based not on their gender but on their risk profile.
Regardless of your situation there are ways that you can reduce your premium, such as:
- Parking in a secure location: Keep your car off the street and in a secure garage or car park, where possible. Additionally, you may want to think about increasing the security of the car with an alarm or immobiliser
- Increasing your excess: When you buy car insurance, you will be asked if you’d like to set a voluntary excess amount. Typically, the more you’re willing to pay for your excess amount, the lower your premiums will be – just remember that if you have to claim you’ll need to be able to afford to pay the excess, so don’t set it unrealistically high
- Reducing your mileage: If possible, it is worth considering a lower annual mileage amount when you renew your insurance. But don’t knowingly set the mileage amount too low or you may risk invalidating your policy.
- Checking your car insurance group: If you’re buying a new car, check what insurance group band it falls into. The closer to 50 it is, the more likely you will have to pay a higher amount so you may want to rethink the make and model you go for.
- Avoiding paying by monthly direct debit: Most insurers charge a supplement if you spread the cost over monthly payments. If paying in one go is not realistic, consider taking out a 0% purchase credit card to cover the one-off payment – just ensure you have cleared the balance before the 0% interest period ends and, ideally, within 12 months, otherwise you could end up paying for two policies at once, following your next renewal.
- Shopping around for the best deals: Insurers tend to offer the best deals to new customers, so sticking with an existing policy when it comes to your renewal date could mean you miss out on a saving. Shop around online to compare deals.
To find out which insurance group your car is in, use MoneySuperMarket’s Car Insurance Group Checker free tool.
Sources
- All data on this page is taken from 14,737,820 MoneySuperMarket car insurance enquiry records, from the 1st January 2018 to 31st January 2020
- Occupations with less than 100 records were excluded from this study
- Car makes and models with less than 100 records were excluded from this study