Protect Your Bubble Finds Car Insurance For Female Drivers Soars for 2013

Car insurance quotes for female drivers rose by as much as 33% overnight as an EU ruling banning motor insurance providers from varying premiums by gender came into force, according to research collected by the specialist car excess insurer, Protect your bubble

Protect Your Bubble took best-price annual car insurance quotes, with on-road parking included, from a selection of leading insurance providers, for a 26-year-old female account manager, before December 21, 2012 and compared them to quotes given for the same criteria on Friday December 21, 2012. The best-price quotes were collected for 12 test locations across the UK.

For some areas of the country, the price increase is staggering. In Newcastle, the best-price annual insurance quote increased overnight by a third (33%) for women drivers while, in Coventry, the price hike was 30%. Bournemouth has seen annual premiums soar by more than a quarter (26.5%) following the EU ruling while, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, premiums rose by 18.7%. Chester was the only location out of the twelve test areas where prices for women drivers actually decreased, falling by 12.4%.

The below shows the best-price annual car insurance quotes collected before and after Friday December 21, 2012 for a 26-year-old female account manager, living in one of 12 locations across the UK*:

Newcastle Upon Tyne (NE5) Before: £580.58    After: £772.44    Increase: 33%

Coventry (CV1)                     Before: £681.28    After: £885.86    Increase: 30%

Birmingham (B4)             Before: £807.72    £1036.32    28.3

Bournemouth (BH1)    Before: £462.20    After: £584.60    Increase: 26.5%

London Borough of Tower Hamlets (E2)    Before: £877.68    After: £1041.98    Increase: 18.7%

Worsley (M28)    Before: £716.88    After: £810.60    Increase: 13%

Sheffield (S5)    Before: £716.88    After: £810.60    Increase: 13%

Windsor (SL4)    Before: £543.48    After: £584.47    Increase: 7.5%

Hayling Island (PO11)    Before: £380.75    After: £407.80    Increase 7.1%

Cardiff (CF3)    Before: £635.47    After: £678.75    Increase: 6.8%

Edinburgh (EH10)     Before: £329.29     After: £336.18    Increase: 2.1%

Chester (CH2)    Before: £543.38    After: £476.14    Decrease: -12.4%