Motorists have admitted car insurance should not vary based on gender in a new poll conducted by Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis.
The survey found the majority backed a continuation of the gender equalisation directive which means firms cannot charge people more for cover solely based on whether they are male or female.
Mr Lewis stressed women’s car insurance policies tended to be slightly higher before the ruling changed.
He posted on X: "Should insurance pricing stay blind to gender? It's 14yrs since gender equalisation laws made it illegal for insurers to charge men and women different rates for car, life & health insurance.
"It tended to mean a rise in (esp younger) women's car insurance costs, and men's life & health cover costs.
"Yes, insurance pricing is based on level of risk. And there is a difference between (generally risky especially younger) men and women say, for car insurance.
“However, how far do you take that? If there were differences on race, religion, IQ, education etc, should they be allowed to factor into pricing. The question is a balance of stats v fairness and discrimination.”
The majority of both male and female respondents called for the continuation of insurance equality.
The online survey found 37.4 percent of the 26,053 respondents say they were male and backed pricing remaining blind to gender.
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This was matched by 23.8 percent of respondents who said they were female and wanted to see the policy extended.
In addition, 16.9 percent of respondents admitted they were male but didn’t want to see gender equality remain in place.
A hefty 23.8 percent of those answering the survey said they were female but didn't want insurance to remain blind.
Previous data from Confused.com found that women made up to 33 percent of all car insurance claims in 2018. Over the same period, men recorded up to 67 percent of all car insurance claims.
It means that male motorists were considered twice as likely to make a claim against their policy than women.
When asked whether genders saw decreases in premiums under the old rules, Mr Lewis accepted there was some change.
X user @sandtreader asked: "But presumably a fall in men's car insurance and women's life and health? Or did insurers just take the extra profit?!"
Mr Lewis responded: "There was a fall, but often smaller than the commensurate rise."
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