Bedford Driving Lessons

We all know about the risk of young drivers. Now insurers are facing a wave of claims from women driving well into retirement. Men are worse drivers than women. That’s the inescapable conclusion from insurance statistics that show men, particularly those aged between 17 to 25, as the cause of the worst (and most expensive) smash-ups. It’s why young women pay just half the premiums of men the same age. But as Britain’s population ages, insurers have identified a new risk category – older female drivers. Guardian Money can reveal private data held by the insurers which shows that until their 60s, men have a worse accident record than women. But after that age, women are increasingly responsible for motor insurance claims and once they reach their 80s, are making far more claims than men of the same age. Some insurers are now demanding that women from the age of 75 pay 50% more for their car insurance than men, and, from 80, 100% more. Behind the figures is a dramatic surge in the number of elderly women driving on Britain’s roads. Licence statistics from the Department for Transport show that in 1976, only 4% of women who had driving licences were over the age of 70. In the 1990s that figure reached 20% and today it is 36%. Insurers are not sure why women become worse drivers than men as they grow older. But their claims data means they have no choice but to charge women more. The crossover point at which women start paying more than men has, according to AA Insurance, moved from 60 six years ago to below 50 today, although other insurers say they start charging more for women older than 60. A price test by Money this week found that by changing the title of a 75-year-old from Mr to Mrs and keeping all other details the same raised the premium by up to 53%. More