Aussie drivers can save hundreds on their car insurance by declaring their gender as non-binary.
A male driver called into Radio 2GB in Sydney on Monday to explain that they discovered a lucrative loophole in the insurance system.
The listener, a man named Ben, told Ben Fordham his car insurance quote dropped by $800 when he ticked a gender-neutral box when applying for comprehensive coverage.
“I found the box on there and thought I’m just going to give it a tick and see what it comes out with, it might be a bit of a joke,” he said.
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“A joke is right, I was absolutely stunned with what I found … I’d like to see the evidence behind it.”
Fordham said “I can’t believe it”.
“The best deal goes to the non-binary driver … just tick the non-binary box, because no-one is going to be able to disprove how you are identify, you’re going to get a better deal.”
We put it to the test, getting three quotes from NRMA insurance for a middle-aged Sydney driver behind the wheel of an electric Kia EV3, and found the price varied significantly.
Changing only the driver’s stated gender, we found the male driver was quoted $2236 per year, the female driver $2061, and the non-binary driver $1955.
An NRMA Insurance spokesperson said it “recently introduced a non-binary option into the comprehensive car insurance quoting process to enable non-binary customers to be represented and recognised when applying for insurance”.
“We consider a number of factors when determining the premium for car insurance, including the gender of the driver, make and model of your vehicle and claims history,” they said.
“We will continue to refine our approach as we gain insight on driver behaviour to ensure policies and premiums are reflected appropriately.
“It’s important customers provide accurate information when purchasing insurance.”
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Research published by UNSW in 2021 found men, regardless of age, are up to two times more likely to crash, and yet women are more likely to be hospitalised because of an injury sustained in a crash.
Professor Rebecca Ivers, Head of the UNSW School of Population Health, said at the time that there is a need for greater diversity and measures of diversity in road safety data, including better reporting of sex and gender.
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“Because current data is generally limited to binary notions of sex, there is a critical need for more nuanced research that investigates the gendered dimensions of mobility, transport and safety,” she said.
The Australian Road Deaths Database, a data set that includes thousands of road fatalities in Australia, lists the gender of a victim as male, female, or in exceptionally rare circumstances, “unknown”.
Only 32 out of almost 58,000 road fatalities are classified as unknown, some dating back to 1992.
Insurance broker Compare the Market states that men pay higher insurance costs than women, “largely due to younger men having higher car insurance premiums than women of the same age. Young men pay more for car insurance than women of the same age as they are three times more likely to be involved in road fatalities”.
While data clearly shows that men are more likely to be involved in a serious accident, statistics around non-binary drivers are harder to come by.
Not all insurance companies offer the option of a non-binary gender disclosure.
Some only offer the option for people to declare tat they are male or female.
AAMI does not have a non-binary option, though it does state that “We’re committed to ensuring our products and services reflect the diversity of our community”.
“We’re reviewing our system as they currently only request Male and Female,” it says.
“If you don’t identify as Male or Female, please select the gender you are most comfortable with and proceed with your quote.
“Once you have a Quote or policy number handy, please give us a call so we can acknowledge your correct gender and ensure you are included in future system changes.”
