I finally got around to calling my insurance company last week to inform them that I'm now legally male. I still have a joint policy with my ex (we'll get separate policies as soon as I have a new address). It blew me away, but they didn't require any documentation--just my say-so. Consequently, I assumed that my premiums would go up. After all, if they were going to go down, the company would be making a bit less money. Of course they would want documentation if my premium was going DOWN.

But my rate went down, by three dollars a month. Yahoo. Anyone know why? Why does a forty-something woman pay higher rates than a forty-something man?

Oh, and I found out that my ex never adjusted my annual mileage when I started my long-distance commute three years ago. I had pestered him for months, but I guess I eventually forgot about it and thought that he had changed it. So I've been getting ten thousand "free" miles of coverage a year, easily. Feel sorta guilty about that, but it's water under the bridge now.

Why does a forty-something woman pay higher rates than a forty-something man?

Two words: Women Drivers.

Quote from: tekla on December 22, 2009, 01:24:13 AM
Two words: Women Drivers.

a few more words:

... are generally safer and at less risk for accidents than men.

Hence his surprise.

Your premium might have gone down for a lot of other reasons, such as your credit rating improving or fewer accidents or moving violations in your recent past. Maybe there are fewer unisured drivers in or thefts and break-ins your area recently -- something that is true nationwide over the last year. Among people in their forties, I gender makes little difference. The tendency for men to be dangerous, reckless drivers mostly shows up mostly in drivers under the age of 25 or perhaps a bit older.

Mine did the same, more coverage but lower premiums. Who knows why.

Quote from: Alyssa M. on December 22, 2009, 01:37:21 AM
Your premium might have gone down for a lot of other reasons, such as your credit rating improving or fewer accidents or moving violations in your recent past.

You know, I didn't think of this, but I have to point out something that you don't know. We had just started a new cycle this month, and the reduction was in our brand-new premium. So if it isn't my gender, it's something that happened in the last few weeks.

I did get a ticket back when I was about nineteen, though.

I bet if we looked at the actuarial tables - and I'm sure such math thingies make Alyssa all hot and bothered - we'd find out that when they are young, men are far worse, take too many chances, and have a much worse safety record - but, BUT - by the time you hit 40 the most at risk males are dead or off the road, while the women get some Hummer/SUV/Accura and proceed to talk on the phone while driving far too fast (but it doesn't matter does it?  Nope, they are entitled.)

I swear every time someone in a car tries to kill me when I'm riding my bike its a middle age women in a very expensive car talking on the phone.

Quote from: tekla on December 22, 2009, 01:24:13 AM
Why does a forty-something woman pay higher rates than a forty-something man?

Two words: Women Drivers.

Exactly.

I'm so much more acutely aware of this recently, esp. after spending 6 hrs + driving from OKC to Austin TX and back.  WOW.


Jay

---

Post Merge: December 22, 2009, 07:30:53 AM

---

Quote from: tekla on December 22, 2009, 03:04:32 AM
I swear every time someone in a car tries to kill me when I'm riding my bike its a middle age women in a very expensive car talking on the phone.

She was the one in the white Lexus SUV on Sunday driving north out of Austin, riding my tailgate, phone to ear, huge shopping bags in back (I could see the handles), weaving in and out of traffic trying to get ahead, only to end up on my bumper over and over again.  Meanwhile I stayed in the fast lane.  You'd think after the 3rd time she ended up on my bumper she'd just stay there but no.  Went on that way for many many miles before I finally lost her.  Oh, and she was blonde, too.


Jay

Okay, then your question kind of answers itself. Evidently women in their forties are more dangerous to the tune of $36 per year. That, or something else changed or was recalculated in the last month.

They probably don't ask you for proof for the same reason they don't ask you for proof about most other things: if you're lying about anything, they'll just deny coverage. That's not their problem.

Quote from: Alyssa M. on December 22, 2009, 12:05:42 PM
They probably don't ask you for proof for the same reason they don't ask you for proof about most other things: if you're lying about anything, they'll just deny coverage. That's not their problem.

I guess they'll check up on me with the DMV.

Regarding female drivers: I haven't made a careful study of this, but when I see a person driving badly/rudely and it turns out to be a guy, he seems less likely than a woman to be multitasking. So he's just driving aggressively because he's a jerk, not because he's distracted. I seem to see more women who are trying to actually do two things at once when they drive. Not just middle-aged women but younger women as well. Yes, usually a cell phone is involved. And it makes sense to me because women seem to spend more time on the phone than men do, even when they're not driving.

If this is true, perhaps the additional danger for younger women does not cancel out the risky driving that young men tend to engage in. And so young men's premiums are still higher than young women's. But this would not apply to more mature people, perhaps for the reasons Tekla mentioned. Or there could be a massive conspiracy at the insurance companies. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

There can be a lot of hidden factors that we just don't think of right away, although I should have thought of the following one much sooner. I live half a mile away from a large retirement community and frequently have to negotiate senior drivers as I approach the freeway. For a couple of years I railed at the LOLs who wobbled their way to the onramp and then tried to merge into freeway traffic at thirty miles per hour. I wondered why the LOMs rarely did this. Then I actually thought about it. I hardly saw any LOM drivers at all because a lot of the LOMs at that age are, well, dead or incapacitated. Women just tend to live longer.

Quote from: tekla on December 22, 2009, 03:04:32 AM..while the women get some Hummer/SUV/Accura and proceed to talk on the phone while driving far too fast (but it doesn't matter does it? Nope, they are entitled.)

Amen. At least around here they've made it illegal for any driver to talk on the phone. That still doesn't stop most people. The most careless drivers I see are soccer moms in huge vehicles talking on the phone.

---

Post Merge: December 23, 2009, 08:02:06 AM

---

Quote from: sneakersjay on December 22, 2009, 07:27:45 AMOh, and she was blonde, too.

Now, now. Not all blondes are stupid.

Quote from: Radar on December 23, 2009, 08:00:29 AM
Amen. At least around here they've made it illegal for any driver to talk on the phone. That still doesn't stop most people. The most careless drivers I see are soccer moms in huge vehicles talking on the phone.

---

Post Merge: December 23, 2009, 08:02:06 AM

---

Now, now. Not all blondes are stupid.

I'm not sure if they've banned it around here, but I remember an article in September where some guy was like, "They're taking away our freedom to choose!" and I sitting here thinking, "What? To choose to kill me accidentally?"

And yes, we're not all stupid... unless I'm too stupid to realize that I am.

Did it cross your mind that they might have already been about to drop your insurance rates, and it just happens to coincide with you legally getting your sex changed?

insurance rates seem to wander around anyway .... .I've been paying a bit over $100 a year for my motorcycle, then I got a renewal, and they wanted something like $300 a year, I was like, WTF? I checked other services and in person, face to face in an office, it would be $175 a year, a bit better. On-line, they wanted from $1700 to $2500 a year, typical Internet exorbitant pricing, and I'm sure some saps pay this too, I know, I used to sell stuff to morons online!

I finally got to talk to the alpha male at my insurance office (first time I saw him, I'd thought this other kinda dumb peon was the alpha male) and he fixed everything, and my insurance went down to below $100 a year. Turns out there were discounts I got that had expired, and they'd happily charge me more if I didn't complain - woops, I complained.

I'd consider a $3 change to be basically meaningless. The whole insurance racket reminds me of this pizza place I used to buy slices at, the price was always different! It was always $3 and some, about $3.25 to $3.50, it was really strange but it always was a different amount. I tried talking with the people who worked in the place about it and they were not smart enough to discuss it.

Recap: With any organization, find the alpha male and deal with them. And, insurance costs can be expected to "dither" a small amount randomly, only consider it meaningful if they change a lot.

Quote from: insanitylives on December 23, 2009, 04:08:16 PM
Did it cross your mind that they might have already been about to drop your insurance rates, and it just happens to coincide with you legally getting your sex changed?

As I said a bit earlier, I had just gotten the new quote--so new that we hadn't even received the first bill yet. So if they were "just about to" lower the bill, that wouldn't have kicked in for another six months. Under the circumstances, it looks very much like my gender was the deciding factor.

If you read the other posts, you'll see that I initially did not consider other factors. But the way the woman on the phone was talking, I got the impression that the shift was purely gender-related. Not that she would necessarily know.

---

Post Merge: December 23, 2009, 05:02:15 PM

---

Quote from: Alex_C on December 23, 2009, 04:46:45 PM
I'd consider a $3 change to be basically meaningless.

Oh, so do I. I just thought the whole thing was funny, that's all. Not odd funny but humorous funny.