Why can auto insurance companies discriminate on the basis of age and sex, but not ethnicity or race?
Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at
2:43 am
If you’re a teenage male, you’re doomed if you want to get auto insurance. You will pay exorbitantly more because the statistics say that you are more of a hazard. So you are not judged as an individual, but as a group of people.
I’m sure statistics can also show that certain nationalities and races are worse drivers — case in point: Asians. And I’m part Asian, so I can make fun of my own people. =)
If insurance companies are always willing to discriminate on the basis of age and sex, why not race or ethnicity?
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Because as soon as they even dare mentioning race or ethnicity they’ll get accused of racism, possibly get sued over it by someone and possibly made to pay $2 mil by some great judge.
This, they do not want. I know it is not fair but our society isn’t exactly fair.
Anyway, most teenagers won’t be seen dead in an "uncool car". But if you get an "uncool car" you can pay cash for it, get liability only on it and your premiums will BEAT your 57 year old dad’s (if he’s financing a $40.000 SUV)
So not all is lost for the clever teenager.
Some states, they can’t discriminate based on sex.
The reason why, is because statistics do NOT show that certain nationalities and genders are worse drivers. Calling Asians bad drivers, is perpetuating a racial stereotype.
Trust me, if the raw data DID show corrolation between race and claims, like credit scoring, they would do it.
Also – second thought. Without genetic testing for each driver, it would be darned hard to prove ‘race’.
Here in British Columbia the government auto insurer cannot base a person’s auto insurance rate based on their age or gender. Only on use and years licensed. However this is done based on being politically correct and trying to appeal to the voter, not based on any research or sound insurance principles.
If you can provide a link to your research that shows that race plays a factor in accident frequency and severity we would all be happy to review it. Somehow I doubt you’ll provide such a link since there is no research that shows such. However there is plenty of statistics to show that age and gender do play a role.
Insurance rate factoring is broken. It is sexist and age discriminatory but will never change because the people benefiting from the current system would out-shout any attempt to address the issue. Young males pay exorbitant rates not so much because they are more of a liability but because the insurance companies can get away with it. Young women are infamous for avoiding financial responsibility and will be sheltered on someone else’s policy in much larger numbers than males. If insurance companies tried to charge young women the same amount they would make less as women have greater success ‘coat-tailing’ on someone else’s policy orders of magnitude greater than men the same age.
I’m not so young anymore but I will never forget the disparate treatment and penalties I suffered for my gender when it came to auto insurance. I’ve NEVER had an insurance claim or accident yet I paid several times what women my own age did. Angela, the girl I dated when we were 16, had multiple single vehicle crashes that destroyed 2 cars yet I paid almost twice as much.
Also; how on earth can it still be legal for 70+ year old people to still drive? The system is broken.