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According to research jointly conducted by the Irish Independent and insurance broker coverinaclick.ie, men are still paying more than women for car insurance. That’s not a contravention of EU gender discrimination rules, however, rather a tendency to charge more for those in male-dominated professions.
According to one example profile, a 38-year-old plasterer from Kildare, driving a one-year-old Lexus IS Series 250 (we should be so lucky), would pay €595 per annum for comprehensive car insurance with AIG. However, a 38-year-old teacher or nurse driving the same car with the same requirements would pay €535.
So what’s to be done? If you’d rather not just change professions in order to reduce your insurance bill, there are a few alternative options:
- Shop around. An oft-repeated piece of advice but you could be missing out on a substantial reduction if you simply renew with your current provider without checking for lower prices elsewhere.
- Comprehensive vs third party. Do you really need the former? If your car is beyond a certain age or below a certain price, it mightn’t be worth it.
- Pay upfront. Though it may be more financially manageable, monthly installments are usually more expensive because of interest and admin fees.
- Work for that full licence and watch your premium come down.
- Choose your car carefully. A 4.7 V8 petrol Mercedes may be tempting but perhaps a more economical Skoda 2.0L diesel may be the financially-savvy option.
- Take a driving course. Aviva Insurance, for example, provides a one-hour Ignition course, which could give you a premium discount of 20 – 40%, and a further 10% if you don’t drive between 11pm and 6am.
- Research. The Internet is an incalculably useful tool filled to the brim with useful (and otherwise) information. Use it to your advantage! The best place to start may be consumerhelp.ie
