Women drivers could face bigger bills

WOMEN drivers may have to pay higher car insurance under draft European Union proposals to ban sex discrimination. The plan, obliging UK insurers to adopt a single pricing policy for car premiums, has already alarmed the companies, which claim good reasons for gender-based pricing.

Andrew Briscoe, managing director of AA Insurance Services, said, generally, women presented less financial risk to insurers, with research consistently showing that young men represented the highest risk.

He added: 'Women tend to have a more cautious driving style and suffer less catastrophic accidents than men. As a result, women's claims tend to be smaller and underwriters reward this by passing on lower premiums.'

Although an EC directive could be at least two years away, the insurance industry is drawing up counter arguments. The AA has also said there are concerns over other factors, such as age, occupation and even postcode, being excluded from the pricing process.