The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has today ruled that insurance companies cannot charge different premiums to car insurance customers based on their gender, age, driving experience, accident history, area, job or vehicle value.
The landmark ruling means that with immediate effect there will now be a flat charge of £1,500 per year for fully comprehensive cover, or £1,000 for third party cover irrespective of the customer or vehicle. This news has generated a mixed reaction amongst motorists.
43 year old bank manager Lee Taylor labelled the decision a disgrace. “It’s a disgrace” he said.
56 year old accountant Anthony Brown was slightly more descriptive in his response “I’ve been driving for 39 years without ever having been involved in an accident. I’ve never had any points on my licence and I drive a 1.1 litre L reg Ford Fiesta which is worth approximately £45 according to a well known website with an irritating yet catchy tune. My renewal this year with Saga insurance was £124.19. This ruling means that I’ll be £1,375.81 out of pocket next year. How is that fair?”
A more positive reaction came from unemployed 18 year old Wayne Price “I’ve been driving just over a year now and in that time I’ve lost my licence twice and written off 3 heavily modified Citroen Saxos, the 4th is in the garage at the moment to see if it can be repaired. My latest insurance quote using a price comparison website was £149,000. I tried going direct with Aviva but the woman on the phone just told me to fuck off and then put the phone down. This ruling is great news for me.”
Despite speculation that the ruling could severely impact price comparison websites a spokesman for confused.com remained upbeat “We don’t see this ruling as something that will really have much impact on us. Our customers mostly blindly use us without checking to see if they could actually get better deals elsewhere so we’re confident that they’ll continue to do so. And it has made the forms that you need to fill in a lot shorter, for instance instead of having to find the make and model of your car to get an accurate quote you now simply tick the box marked “car”, simples. Oh shit, that’s not our catch phrase is it?”
