Getting Car Insurance If I Am Over 70?
Caeva O'Callaghan | September 3rd, 2022
Many risk factors affect car insurance. But is age really more than just a number, and are you still able to get car insurance when you’re over 70?
Yes, you can. But how much you pay may still depend on your age, despite it being illegal for insurance companies to discriminate.
The good news is, young or old, we can help you find a fantastic deal on your car insurance. Just pick up the phone and give us a call to get your quote.
In this article, we’ll cover questions like:
- Why does my insurer need to know my age?
- Is it illegal for car insurance to discriminate based on age?
- How can older drivers save money on car insurance?
The bottom line is, how much you’ll pay for your car insurance will depend in a small part on your age. It’s simply a contributory factor to the risks associated with driving a car.
Why does my insurer need to know my age?
When you enter your personal information to get a quote on your car insurance, any insurance provider will ask your age. This is not only for marketing purposes: age is actually one of the primary rating factors for car insurance.
As uncomfortable as it may seem, insurance companies rate these factors according to hard facts and statistics such as the type of incident – like a crash, knock or type of conviction such as drunk driving – as well as how bad the damage was.
According to these figures, drivers under the age of 25 are likely to pay more for their car insurance because they crash more. Statistics from the Road Safety Authority show most drivers killed in road traffic accidents in 2017 were between the ages of 16 and 25.
However, after 25, your insurance only goes down for a while before it goes back up. Once you reach a certain age, experience suddenly becomes a turn-off for insurers. Claims get a lot less likely to succeed from about 75 years of age, and the situation deteriorates further as drivers reach 80 or more.
Is it illegal for car insurance to discriminate based on age?
Since the Equality Act 2010, it’s been illegal for commercial services to discriminate against their customers for any reason. However, sometimes it is lawful for an insurance provider to discriminate against you because of your age.
Put simply, insurance companies can’t not sell you a product that you’re eligible for based on age, but they are allowed to qualify you for a product based on how old you are.
Age can be used to assess risk and this can be used to work out the price you pay for an insurance product or whether it’s made available to you in the first place. Insurers must base their risk assessments on information from a reliable source and one which is relevant to the product they are providing – for example, statistics.
However, it gets increasingly hard to defend the “statistics” excuses for charging older drivers more. Here at QuoteMe, we did an experiment: one of our clients, aged 61, had a premium which was €606.54. When we increased her age to 71, the premium rose to €687.51. We then increased her age to 81 and the premium increased to €833.94. Nothing else changed – just her year of birth. All other details remained the same.
By the time our client would reach her 80’s, only three insurance companies gave us a quote. They were Aviva, Liberty and Axa. All others declined to quote.
Thing is, there are no major statistics that prove older drivers are more dangerous. In fact, the opposite is true: younger drivers are more likely to have accidents.
Unfortunately, insurance premiums do not reflect this. We think this is wrong.
How can older drivers save money on car insurance?
No matter your age, there are some workarounds if you find out your age is affecting how much you pay for your car insurance. We can help – pick up the phone and give us a call, and we’ll guide you through the process.
If you’re an older driver, there are a few things you can do yourself to lower your premiums:
- Look for policies with Aviva, Liberty and Axa.
- Investigate “black box” policy – where a device is installed in your car to monitor your driving. The safer you are, the more your premiums lower.
- Downsize your large, expensive car to a smaller and cheaper model.
Here at QuoteMe, we believe the insurance industry is discriminatory towards older people. We’re delighted to be able to help any older driver who needs help finding the perfect insurance policy and secure their independence for years to come.
Our team of car insurance experts are on hand to talk to on 0818 224433 or 042 935905 Mon-Fri between from 8.30am and 5.30pm. Call us today!