INSURERS have already started to increase premiums for women, three weeks before new rules banning gender discrimination kick in. Women drivers are already being hit with hikes of up to €60 for motor insurance. Young women will see further rises of around €220 added to the cost of their cover, it was predicted last night. But male drivers under 21 are seeing their premiums falling by around €60 as insurers readjust their pricing to comply with the new rules.

The trends emerged in data compiled from 16 insurers by brokers AonInsure.ie and seen by the Irish Independent. The insurance market was said last night to be in “a state of massive confusion” as it tries to get to grips with the new rules banning gender discrimination due to take effect on December 21.

Among the trends to emerge in the latest pricing index from AonInsure.ie were:

• The cost of insuring males over the age of 65 has jumped by €37 in the past few months.

• Up to six insurers have temporarily stopped quoting for young people while they work out how to price premiums to comply with the new rules.

• Premiums will rise and fall on a regular basis as insurers try to ensure they do not end up overcharging and losing customers, or charging too little and losing money.

AonInsure.ie chief executive Declan Cahill said around 200,000 women under the age of 30 with a full driving licence are facing further insurance increases of up to €220 a year in the next few months.

He added that a 21-year-old woman who drives a Peugeot 206 had been quoted €1,115 for insurance. She is now being quoted €1,171. By the start of next year the annual premium will have increased to €1,338.

A man of the same age and driving a Volkswagen Golf was paying an annual premium of €2,160 if he took out insurance last July. Now the premium has fallen to €2,096. “Now that insurers can no longer use gender, they will calculate premiums using your age, address, the type of car you drive, the number of years of a no-claims bonus you have, annual mileage, your occupation and lifestyle,” said Mr Cahill.

Source: Charlie Weston, The Personal Finance Editor, The Independent