Is it sexist for men under 26 to be charged more for car insurance?

Azothlike · 2015-01-10T01:23:07+00:00

Have you looked the word Sexist up?

It is, by every possible definition, sexist.

It states that men and women are different. Sexist. It states that men are more likely to get in an accident over a fixed period of time. Sexist.

Gender is a protected class, and it is frankly illegal. Asking if this particular obvious issue is sexist is like asking if water is wet.

The more intuitive question, is, Is Sexism Bad?

Because, statistically, it's true that men are more likely to get into an accident over a fixed period of time. The question is, is it fair/legal to discriminate against whole genders when it makes sense to. If no, why is car insurance sexist.

If yes, why isn't health care sexist.

Swiggy · 2015-01-10T04:21:01+00:00

How would people react if the genders were reversed?

Ask President Obama. Here he is extolling the ACA's provision that insurance can't charge more for health insurance "just because you are a woman", even though women file more claims on average.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE1gfxFYvR0#t=3m10s

This is not meant to be a slam on Obama, it is just yet another example, because he is far from the only example of politicians who only care about equality and equity when it doesn't involve men.

xNOM · 2015-01-10T03:38:10+00:00

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2015-01-10T02:04:37+00:00

Yes. It's also ageist.

And as someone who drives faaaar better than my female older sister... it really annoys me that I have to pay a penis tax.

DavidByron2 · 2015-01-09T23:54:50+00:00

It's illegal in Europe (the EU) for the reason you state.

2015-01-10T01:08:38+00:00

yeah I think it is sexist. From what I understand they can't charge women extra for medical insurance for getting pregnant so why should they charge men more.

regents · 2015-01-10T01:28:57+00:00

Of course it's sexist. I'm disappointed there's no movement in the US to rectify it. Everyone seems to just shrug their shoulders and say it's just statistics.

2015-01-11T13:10:33+00:00

Only if it's sexist that women pay(ed) more for health insurance.

MRSPArchiver · 2015-01-09T23:50:43+00:00

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2015-01-11T04:20:09+00:00

Have a degree in economics and minor in statistics here, FWIW. And yes, if it comes up, I'm willing to show proof to a moderator in private. Also note that I'm talking about the ethical and moral implications, not the legal implications.

Not necessarily in theory, but it wouldn't be sexist if the genders were reversed either, and that is why I'm outraged.

Certain groups are more prone to having certain things happen. That's a statistical fact, and it has nothing to do with feminism, men's rights, or any other movement.

Insurance companies basically draw on a "profile" of you to decide how likely you are to get in an accident, and charge you based on how much they statistically expect to pay out. If gender is one of many factors they look at to estimate the likelihood they'll have to pay out, that's fine (and that's the whole principle of insurance underwriting, I'm not familiar enough with how car insurance underwriting specifically works to know if that's the case or not.)

The problem is that many people who tolerate it would be completely outraged if the genders were reversed. That's a problem with those people, not with the insurance rates. So it makes more sense to be outraged at people who tolerate it but wouldn't tolerate it if the genders were reversed.

(Why men are more likely to get into accidents may reflect sexist factors, but that's another discussion altogether and one I'm honestly completely uniformed about.)

regents · 2015-01-10T00:05:54+00:00

It might not seem like it but mile for mile you are charged less.

In every country in the world women drive fewer miles than men.

In the UK women do appox 6,000 miles per years but men do 10,000.

You think about all the wives with a runabout which they just use to go to the shops or pick the kids up from school.

Mile for mile men are paying much less for their insurance.

T5000X · 2015-01-09T23:51:16+00:00

ARedthorn · 2015-01-10T02:50:45+00:00

Sexist, yes- by definition, as others have stated.

Bigoted or wrong? Eh... Maybe not. It is, after all, a naturally occurring statistical imbalance- which is exactly what these companies run on. But by that same measure, a lot of things feminists whine about aren't wrong either.

Folsomdsf · 2015-01-10T06:53:03+00:00

No, it's just statistics and aggregate risk groups. Men drive more miles on average and therefore have more overall accidents, and die at much higher rates in car accidents. We do have less accidents per mile but men drive many more miles on average. It's why men die in far more traffic accidents as well.

Insurance is literally a company taking in as many relevant factors as they can and making a bet essentially. That you'll be able to pay more in premiums than they'll pay out in payments. There's nothing to be sexist or ageist about, they're data points, not even personality traits or the like to them. There's no bigotry involved or the like, they are a company not a person. You are being averaged across all people of your age/sex/region/etc. There's a lot of study behind it and it's just a case of averages and pooling the risk of the company paying out across their entire customer base.

Someone tries to spout out a lot of bs a few posts down and it's a real shame to see that as even readily available death stats contradicted them on the spot where men were dying more than twice as often which in and of itself shows the risk factors being quite different. And this was consistent across years and not just a fluke.

mikesteane · 2015-01-10T00:47:02+00:00

It depends on your understanding of the word "sexist." If you think it means recognition of the fact that men and women are different and/or actions based upon that belief, then yes. If you think it means malicious bias against a person or people based on their sex, then no.

Diesel-66 · 2015-01-10T03:26:36+00:00

Women paid higher health insurance. Elderly pay higher insurance. Singles pay higher rates. All based on statistics

Title	Is it sexist for men under 26 to be charged more for car insurance?
Author	JetSandals
Upvotes	13
Comments	21
Date	January 9, 2015 11:50 PM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/2rwun6/is_it_sexist_for_men_under_26_to_be_charged_more/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/is-it-sexist-for-men-under-26-to-be-charged-more.990886 https://theredarchive.com/post/990886

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