Gender & Car Insurance Statistics in the UK

2025

Car insurance in the UK has been officially gender-neutral since 2012, when the EU Gender Directive banned insurers from using gender as a factor in pricing. In theory, that should mean men and women pay the same. In reality? They don’t.

Men are still charged more, and in some cases hundreds of pounds more each year. The reason isn’t discrimination , it’s risk. Men are statistically more likely to take risks, be involved in accidents, make costlier claims, and drive higher-powered vehicles. Insurers may not be using gender directly anymore, but all the behaviours that correlate with it still add up.

Average premiums: Men vs Women

Men continue to pay more on average, with one 2025 dataset showing £826.51 for men versus £664.16 for women — that’s a 24% gap [1].

Another report puts the figures at £791 for men and £642 for women, leaving a difference of £149 [2].

The gender gap has shifted over time. Before the EU directive, the gap was £121 in December 2011. It dropped to just £27 in 2013, but by 2017 it had widened back up to £121 [11].

Why men pay more

The higher premiums for men aren’t arbitrary — they reflect measurable risk. Men hold 72% of all penalty points in the UK, and are responsible for 84% of drink-driving offences and 69% of speeding offences [3]. Add in the fact that men generally drive more miles and favour higher-powered vehicles, and the pattern is clear.

Claims: Who crashes more?

When it comes to insurance claims, men dominate here too. ABI-backed research has shown that across nearly every age group, men make both more frequent and more expensive claims than women [4]. The biggest gap is among young drivers aged 17–25.

Confused.com data backs this up: in 2018, of 1.4 million insurance claims, 67% came from men and just 33% from women [11]. Men’s claims also cost more, averaging £5,577 compared to £5,150 for women [11].

Young drivers: The harshest gap

Insurance is toughest on younger drivers, but young men get the worst of it. Men aged 17–24 are paying around £2,451, compared with £1,810 for women of the same age — that’s a 35% difference [5].

This gap mirrors young men’s overrepresentation in high-risk claims and accident data. For a deeper breakdown, see our young driver insurance statistics report.

Accidents and casualties

Accident data tells the same story. In 2023, 75% of road deaths and 61% of all reported casualties in Great Britain were male [6]. Brake’s research echoes this, showing men are responsible for 74% of deaths, 69% of serious injuries and 57% of slight injuries [11].

For insurers, that means higher expected payouts, which directly influences premiums.

Occupations and car choice

Premiums aren’t just about behaviour on the road – they’re also shaped by lifestyle factors. Men are more likely to work in high-risk jobs and own higher-risk vehicles.

For more on vehicle risks, see our car theft statistics.
  • PassMeFast data showed that 16% of male drivers worked in the top 100 highest-premium occupations, compared to just 1% of women [11]. Drivers in those jobs faced average premiums of £895, versus £508 for others.
  • Car choice matters too. 3% of men drive cars from the top 100 most expensive models to insure, compared with 1% of women. And when it comes to high-risk insurance groups (bands 31–50), 18% of men’s cars fell in that range, compared with 7% of women’s [11].

Premium trends in the UK

Even as gender gaps persist, the market itself has been turbulent. Premiums peaked at £995 in late 2023 before falling back to around £735 in Q3 2025 [2].

But claims costs are still rising. In 2024, insurers paid out a record £11.7 billion, with the average claim climbing to £4,900, up 13% on the previous year [7].

Final thoughts

So, is car insurance really gender-neutral? On paper, yes. In practice, not quite. Men pay more because their driving patterns and lifestyle choices put them at higher risk in the eyes of insurers. They have more penalty points, more offences, more accidents, and more costly claims. Young men, in particular, face the steepest bills, with premiums hundreds of pounds higher than their female peers.

Until those underlying behaviours change, the gender gap in car insurance isn’t going anywhere.

Sources

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