Women catching up in car insurance prices

The cheapest car quote rose by 12.7% in 2009, with most of the increases coming in the second half of the year, according to a quarterly insurance price index.

The index from EMB and Confused.com shows that prices rose by 6.3% in the fourth quarter alone. As a result, the cost of the average policy has risen from £450 at the end of 2008 to £507 at the end of 2009. Women had consistently higher increases than men in 2009. Females aged 21-30 saw annual increases approaching 17%, compared with around 13% for men in the same age bracket. In monetary terms, premiums still lag behind men, but they are catching up.

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