Age, sex and postcodes 'influence car insurance costs'
Published On 31 July 2007
Factors like age, sex and address can have a very large impact on car insurance premiums, an industry expert has said.Recent figures from the AA showed that the average cost of comprehensive car insurance rose by 2.5 per cent on the second quarter of 2007 to £822.
However, Ian Crowder, a spokesperson from AA, explained that a person's age, sex and address still had a massive impact on how high a premium they pay.
He said: "There are lots of factors which affect car insurance; the biggest is probably age and sex.
"If you're a man having just passed your driving test you present the highest possible risk to an insurer regardless of the type of car that you drive."
Mr Crowder added that young women could find their premiums are only 50 per cent of those that a man of a similar age pays.
"Postcodes certainly make a difference to premium costs," he pointed out. "If you're in an inner city area and you leave your car on the street you could pay three times the premium of somebody on the outskirts of town in a leafy cul-de-sac with their car parked in the garage."
As well as opting for off-street parking, Mr Crowder said that things like the pass plus qualification can help reduce insurance premiums for young drivers.
