Price hike to motor insurance may force a third of young female brits to drive uninsured

Aug. 22, 2011 - PRLog -- Following news that EU legislation may lead to an increase in the price of car insurance for women by up to 25 per cent, Quinn-direct, the young drivers car insurance specialist, has found over a third (35 per cent) of 17-24 year old women would consider driving without insurance if faced with a significant price increase.

One in ten (12 per cent) young female drivers report that a 25% per cent price increase would force them to give up driving altogether.  A further 11 per cent say they would have to take on a second job to afford to keep on the road.

The price rise may also impact on young women’s education with five per cent saying that they will not be able to get to school or college as they won’t be able to afford to drive their cars. A further 15 per cent say that they will be forced to change jobs to work closer to home as they would not be able to afford to continue driving.

It is clear that the new measure has caused controversy, with a staggering 48 per cent of motorists saying that they disagree with the new legislation and that men and women should pay different levels of car insurance if, as statistics show, women are more careful drivers and less likely to have expensive accidents. In fact, more than a third of men (34 per cent) said that they think that they should pay more than women for their car insurance.

John McDonagh, Head of Consumer Insurance at Quinn-direct, said: “It is evident from the research that motorists are not happy with the proposed changes to their insurance premiums. Men as well as women clearly feel that the measures pose no benefit whatsoever to motorists.

“It is shocking that many young drivers would consider driving without insurance and sad that some will be unable to afford to get behind the wheel.  At Quinn-direct, we will be keeping our premiums as low as possible to try and offer cheap car insurance for young drivers to help keep young drivers on the road.”