Does your auto insurer discriminate by gender?

Insurance companies are nothing more than extortionists. The Government needs to abolish for profit greedy companies and sell only provincially funded insurance. The infrastructure allready exists in the registry and licensing centres. As drivers we should only pay a flat fee of $500.00 per year for insurance and have our rates only increase if we have an at fault claim or receive a traffic ticket! If after five years with no claim or ticket then insurance will drop to ZERO as it is obvious that such a driver is not a part of the problem. Problem drivers should see their costs double for each and every violation or claim as they are obviously the problem! When they cannot afford insurance and are caught driving without, an automatic two year sentence for a first conviction will apply. The government says that it concerned with making the roads safe and this will do more to achieve that goal than any other enforcement program.

Insurance companies are businesses like any other, profit is always the goal and mathematical analysis (actuarial) reveals men <25 years are the highest risk. Don't fight with numbers.

- Underwriter and Insurance lover :)

I really wish people like laserman would get just a little bit educated on a subject before running their mouths off about it, and preaching about magical ways to make the world better. Perhaps if he even read the article, he would understand that insurance is rated by risk, taking all sorts of things (not just age and gender) into account. Another concept he appears to have missed is another fundamental principal of insurance. The risk of the few is spread among the many. We all put a little money into a pot together, and then are given the right to use that money in the event of a loss. If we do use this service (a cliam) we are penalized and will have to start putting more into the pot next year to make up for it. If we used the half baked idea of a flat rate for everybody, and FREE insureance for those who go 5 years claims free (which is not long at all), the pot would empty out almost instantly and there would be no more insurance. Of course you did suggest doubling insurance cost for any accidents people have, but would that really be fair to someone who has a clean 10 year driving record, who gets in a little fender bender because of slippery conditions?
Insurance is a highly regulated industry and is constantly undergoing changes to be more fair. It's not always cheap, but what is nowadays?

There is a risk associated but there is a point where it is not reasonable. I know of a young man
with his first vehicle (cost 2500.00) whos insurance after 1 year with no tickets or accidents and driver training was quoted PLPD at 3300.00 s year. How is this reasonable ? There is calculating risk and then there is gouging. This seems to fit the latter. As far as being regulated, has anyone tried to find out how insurance rates are calcualted in thier province? I did and I could find no information. I asked the insurance company and they would not answer. Nothing on-line. I dont see how something so tightly regulated has no available information. When insurance is madatory someone needs to look out for us but who are these people looking after this and how it is monitored?

Although I do agree that that is very high, the value of his car is only a factor again. In the event of a cliam the insurance company can be one the hook not only for the damage to his car, but also for damge to other vehicles, liability for damaged property or personal injusries and even investigation costs associated with the claim, among many other things. For ANY information on your provinces regulations, contact your provincial insurance council. (Insurance Council of Manitoba, Insurance Council of Alberta etc.)
Hope that helps a little.

I tired that route and got nowhere. I do understand the reasoning behind PLPD as it could be a expensive vehicle you hit but the lack of information still confuses me. If it so above board why the secrecy? And what government agency looks after us in this respect? The insurance bureau is helpful in a lot of respects but it seems to me if something is required by law there should be some guidelines towards caluclating risks. Where are they? I was told each insurane company is different when assessing risk. Just Being told you have to have it is not regulating anything. It is license to charge what you want , with no explantion, by law. 2nd case senerio....I know a 55 year old gentleman who received a large increase in his insurance by a company he had dealt with for years. When he questioned it he was told he had no tickets or accidents in many years and the law of averages said he was overdue for something, which made him a higher risk...therfore the increase in premiums. it is confusing. They seem to play which ever end nets them the most money.

the thing is people arent making money as they use to to afford the insurance what they should look intio is my site at GRANDIZER CASH if you can google those two words you will be glad you did
so that you can and will know that the sneaky ideas and tactic's could help them make money

to afford insurance

GRANDIZER CASH google it i suggest you look at the site it will SHOW you the thing's that make you go Hmmmm The thing's that i have written there will make you eye's wide open it's easy fast and SIMPLE !!! they are SNEAKY IDEAS TO MAKE MONEY PERIOD !!! You will thank me the day when you dont have to look for work anymore and just follow my ideas and method's it works and you dont have too !!! Work anymore read it and decide if the info is what you want the best part its TWO PAGES too know what too do that is all you need not a book to get STARTED...

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These direction i made are too help the person that has had it had for a long time.. YOU will need a safety DEPOSIT box... to put your CASH in at the Bank ...

when you get the info you will know why !!! that part is a secret. I wish you all well and prosper save this info for your future years to follow up on. It's Genius

It 's GRANDIZER !!!

www.grandizer.yolasite.com

I was once involved in a 3 car fender bender. I ws the third car. The first car had no damage, the second had noi damage and my car had no damage. Three weeks later the police called and said I'd be charged for leaving the sen of an accident if I didn't report to the accident reporting station. The officer there said prior to taking the photos "wher's the damage". I asked him why am I here. He said the driver of the first car is notifying the senod driver of her two year limitation period in case she has whip lash. So even though nothing ever happened my premiums went up. Thanks to her lawyer. So between lawyers and insurance companies your gonna get up your @ss one way or another. What we think doesn't matter.

I completely agree with Laserman who left the first comment Insurance is a scam and nothing more period.
They charge an arm and a leg to say when you should actually should get a payout "sorry but your not covered and because someone hit your bumper at no fault of yours your rates are going up by 300% because you almost costed us money."
I say if you drive and cause an accident then you LOSE YOUR LICENCE and of course some of the bleeding hearts will say well he made an honest mistake well he can think all about that as he's taking the bus to work for the next year and if he loses his job because of no car he should have dsriven alot more cereful and alot slower.
I also guarantee when he gets his licence back a year later he will drive more carefully and no spoeed or cause another accident.
So for those of you who LOVE to pay insurance go for it but don't drag me down with you you idiots.
(yet another reason why I am ashamed to be canadian and I am still workjing on my visa to get the hell out of here. Why is it so easy to become a canadian citizen but when you want to move somewhere else for life they make it impossible.)

When I was 21, I lived in Alberta and bought a Mustang GT. 5 years of a clean driving record and no speeding tickets and I had to pay $8000 for a year of insurance. When I moved to BC (public insurance), it dropped to $3000 minus 30% for 7 years of clean driving!

Talk about gender discrimination!!!

i find it laughable that women think they are being delt an unjust card when it comes to income.maybe that might be true but factor in the "your a male" tax that we get hammered with on a daily basis and i will bet my bottom dollar women at the end of the day fair better then men !! not just car insurance where we pay more !

Brian, perhaps you could point out some of the other things that men pay more for?

I agree that there's an issue out there - so many people are given preference over others and it's definitely not fair (not just in insurance). Scholarships is a big one - if you're a woman or a minority group, great! If you're a white male, sucks to be you. A scholarship that is based on academics is often given to those who acheived less than others simply due to their gender or ethnicity. Since when is that fair? Works the same in insurance... a 24 year old woman with 1 accident pays less than a 24 year old guy with no accidents. The idea is that certain people groups or genders have had a difficult time in the past, thus we should give them preferential treatment now. This makes absolutely no sense since many people in the "unpreferred" gender or ethnicity may have experienced difficult times in life, while minorities or women may have had none of the difficulties - yet the minority or women is still given preference. Perhaps instead of grouping people according to gender or ethnicity, those things should truly be ignored and people can be grouped into levels of so-called "risk" or "preference" based on their actual qualities and past experiences. That would make it truly fair.

A society that is not supposed to be giving preferential treatment to anyone ends up doing it anyway. It's a shame.

Hey GRANDIZER Genius... maybe you should use some of your Million$$ and get some basic spelling skills. And if you're so "smart" why do you need to peddle your krap thru your own minimalist efforts by posting your drivel on an article's comment section. You should have "people" doing that for ya. Moron !!! Feel free to tell us off hand what you charge for your 2-page words of dimsdom. Betcha it's a nice little number that ends with .95 or .99. Idiot !!

Dear Ashamed to be Canadian... If there's ANYTHING I can do to fast track the process of getting your ass out of MY country... feel free to let me know what ya need.

This is total discrimination. Why dont we apply this to the workforce so women quit getting jobs they cant physically perform, or at least pretend they cant when they play the chick card. How about immigration? Maybe we should make it mandatory for people to learn english and adapt to north american culture before running away from whatever country they happen to be coming from. Why is it ok for an insurance company to publicly discriminate for profit but nobody else is allowed?

insurance in Ontario is run by thugs .our own government insurance co are like hungry dogs .back door deals with lawyers are killing victims absolutely no care for human life just trying to bankrupt our healthcare system . Only spending is to collect evidence against victims by breaking every law in books they just simply own law . worst then any third world country. there is only one way to fix this but we Canadians are peace loving people.

Insurance from private companies is a joke, a license to steal...every private insurance sold. Auto, males under 25...rip off. If they dumped the first 50 years of history I bet accident rates and tickets would be the same...er..correct that. First they would have to ensure cops are handing out tickets to male and female driver fairly. I personallly know way too many females that have gotten away with everything from impaireds to speeding tickets.

Life insurance, try to buy insurance for a diaetic. Oh risk is too high. Again get rid of the historical data showing that diabetics die younger than others (we have insulin now!!!) Diabetics are living as longer as everyone else.

Death insurance, why should we need it. Government should make the price of dying fair, instead of allowing the gouging.

Why is it government issued insurance does not loose money year after year. In Alberta you need to have insurance on every vehicle you own and also pay insurance for each driver that drives the vehicle. WEouldn't it make more sense to only have to insure the person? After all you can only drive one vehicle at a time.

Insurance...A legal way to steal.

Hey nope

When was the last time you ran the numbers? and by the way forget the years upto about 1995. Run the numbers on everything after this, bet the numbers will surprise you. Since females have started driving more bet the averages have started coming around. In actuality bet it is likely the other way. Women are terrible drivers.

I agree with you completely and I was born and raised here. I remember the days when behaviour = consequence. There was a time when I was proud to be Canadian and stood proud when the national anthem was sung. I also remember when the Lord's Prayer was said in school and everyone in the class sat perfectly still and listened. However, Canada is no longer a place to be proud of. Now, to answer the question. YES, insurance companies have been charging more if you are a male driver under 25, for years! It's because the majority of male drivers use their male ego and testosterone to drive at that age. That is something that will never change. It's human nature. Mr. Buckland, you digress again.

I have been driving a vehicle for 20 yrs with no accidents or claims and only 1 speeding ticket which was about 8-10 yrs ago. So overall a very clean record. What Ticks me off is that regardless of how I have driven along with my wifes insurance and my house incurance also no claims and no tickets i might add. When I renewed my insurance I still got screwed and now pay an additional 20 pe rmonth more then I had last year!! This doesn't sound like alot but frankly when I have done nothing but pay insurance companies for the last 20 years and have gotten nothing from them in return, they are nice enough to tell me that my insurance rate has increased!!!!!! If you wonder why the economy has been so stale in the last few years take a damn look at the major costs of what every average joe has had to pay more for in the last 5 years. Increases in insurance, water bill, hydro, taxes, gas, property taxes etc. Gee I wonder why canadians have stopped spending money in the economy like years ago!!!! With most canadians lucky to see an increase in their pay by 2% <-- if they're lucky. The insurance business is no different and has helped contribute to the overall poverty and the decline of our economy. Not on it's own of course but just by removing a little more money from the average joe. The problerm drivers deserve to pay more but they believe in order to make more money insurance companies will just jack the rates up for everyone. After all that just makes good business sence to them. go figure!

Well, insurance means transfer of risk from one person to another.the main goal of insurance company is to earn more and more profit and to expand their business. in case of gender descrimination , actually it should banned by insurance company.whether insurance companiies are automobile insurance or life insurance they charge as per the age of person not by gender.

Currently, insurers are able to make such differentiation under several policies and they fear the banning of the system will be bad for the consumer. The new rules will are effective from Dec. 21, 2012. by businessweek article .. should be banned

http://www.aia.co.nz/en/