Car insurance premiums have risen by up to 38% since 2021, according to Consumer NZ, with young women particularly affected.
Consumer obtained car insurance quotes for four scenarios in different parts of the country: a young person driving a Mazda hatchback, a middle-aged person driving a Nissan Leaf, an older person driving a Honda Fit and a family of four driving a Ford SUV.
For a young woman in Auckland, the median cost of insurance had increased by 30.33% by 2021, just ahead of the 26.26% increase for a young woman in Wellington.
Young men had smaller increases, ranging from 9.51% in Christchurch to 19.64% in Auckland.
“It appears that young women have seen a large increase in premiums since 2021, although they are still paying slightly cheaper or the same premiums as young men,” said Rebecca Styles, head of the Consumer Investigations team.
“We didn’t investigate why this is – some insurers charge men and women the same, while others differentiate between the sexes. I would assume that the insurer’s risk data would show that claims for women have increased, which has led to an increase in premiums.”
In 2021, Vero said it would no longer differentiate by gender when setting car insurance premiums.
For middle-aged drivers, men in Wellington saw the biggest increase in premiums, with a median increase of 21.4 per cent.
For older drivers, women in Dunedin saw the biggest increase at 24.66%.
Consumers said the overall increase in premiums paid was probably due to the claims insurers received after Cyclone Gabrielle, as well as inflation. Premiums for other types of insurance have also risen sharply – IAG said its home insurance premiums were up between 20% and 30%.
“While there is a perception that all car insurance is the same, there are some differences between policies that could save you money,” said Styles.
“We found that younger people could save almost $38 a month by shopping around, and older people could keep an extra $40 in their pocket.”
The biggest difference between the highest and lowest premium quoted this year was $61.82 a month for a family in Hamilton, $65.97 for an older man in Auckland, $58.15 for a middle-aged woman in Auckland and $58.93 for a young man in Auckland.
Consumer found that of those without insurance, 10% had let it lapse because of the cost, up from 2% in 2022.
