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Nonbinary drivers in Australia may be able to save hundreds on car insurance — not by taking advice from a computer-generated lizard, but just by being themselves.
As News.com.au reported Monday, Australian insurance company National Roads and Motorists’ Association (NRMA) now offers drivers the option to apply for insurance as male, female, or nonbinary — with rate quotes that can vary significantly between the three options. Across three quotes for the same vehicle with only the applicant’s gender changed, the nonbinary driver was offered the lowest annual rate of AUD $1955; a male driver in the same car would be offered an annual rate of $2236, and a female driver $2061, the site reported.
In a statement to News.com.au, an NRMA spokesperson said the company had “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,” the spokesperson 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.”
Similar quotes from NRMA and Allianz Australia were first noted by a Radio 2GB caller, who told conservative radio host Ben Fordham that he allegedly received $800 off his comprehensive car insurance quote by selecting “nonbinary” rather than “male.”
“I wonder, going forward, if people just tick the nonbinary box, because no-one is going to be able to disprove how you identify; you’re going to get a better deal,” Fordham said during the segment.
Gender-based pricing is common in automobile insurance, but it’s not clear whether quotes like these are on offer at other insurance companies in Australia — let alone the U.S. or the rest of the world. As Investopedia reported last year, there is little available data about transgender and nonbinary drivers and their safety habits, and although some insurance companies have begun offering nonbinary gender options, rates are not uniformly lower for trans and nonbinary drivers.
“In our Delaware report, we found that some folks transitioned, then their auto insurance rate went up,” Consumer Federation of America research and advocacy associate Michael DeLong told Investopedia. “We got quotes from Progressive for nonbinary drivers in Colorado and found that they got charged an intermediate amount. For instance, male drivers, on average, were quoted a rate of $53 per month. For a nonbinary driver, their quote was $55 per month; for a woman, they quoted $57 per month.” DeLong also noted that while men are often charged more for insurance than women, the reverse can also be true: “There are some insurers who charge men higher auto insurance premiums than women, and there are some auto insurance companies that charge women higher insurance premiums than men.”
Professor Rebecca Ivers, a professor of public health at the University of New South Wales Sydney, told News.com.au that better reporting of road safety data — including drivers’ identities — is critical.
“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,” Ivers said.
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Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.