CAR PREMIUMS MAY CHANGE

Vero Insurance has announced today that it is working to remove gender-based factors from its pricing and underwriting for its consumer car insurance products.

Sacha Cowlrick, Executive Manager Consumer Insurance at Vero, says that while claims data supports the insurance market’s approach to gender, the company feels that binary gender distinctions are not a true reflection of the gender spectrum of its customers.

“Historically insurers have compared data for ‘male’ and ‘female’ customers, and we have made the decision that it is simpler and more inclusive to begin the process of removing gender from our underwriting.”

Cowlrick says that the process is complex and will take at least 12 to 18 months.

“There is strong evidence that gender and age together are factors that can help to determine the likelihood that customers will make a claim, and gender can have a significant impact on price for some age ranges,” she says.

“If we were to remove the gender rating on premiums suddenly, it would mean big changes to some customers’ premiums at renewal. We need to do some work in the background to essentially ‘smooth’ the pricing differences to ensure that when we remove gender as a factor altogether it won’t create any sudden premium changes that customers aren’t prepared for.”

For queries about your car premiums please call us on 09 360 5555 or 0273 000666.