Brits could pay £975 more for car insurance over two-letter title difference

Daily Mirror

10-07-2025

Shocking new data from top comparison sites has uncovered an interesting pattern that could mean Brits are hit with a hefty premium when purchasing their car insurance
Drivers have been told that a simple two-letter difference could cost them almost £1,000 on their car insurance.
Since the Equality Act 2010, insurers are prohibited from using gender as a factor in determining pricing, meaning you shouldn't be charged more to protect your vehicle just because you're a man or a woman. However, Confused.com and Quotezone have analysed data from the first quarter of 2025 - to find out whether titles like 'Mr', 'Mrs', 'Miss' and 'Ms' still impact the deal you're offered.
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The figures reveal significant variation in quotes, with some titles consistently associated with lower or higher costs, and it's bad news for men. The findings show drivers selecting 'Mr' have to pay more for their car insurance — when comparing prices, the difference was as much as £975 between a man selecting 'Mr' and a woman choosing 'Ms' — but this is not due to gender-based discrimination. Both comparison sites confirmed insurers do not use the title itself to calculate premiums.
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Instead, the title often reflects broader risk profiles associated with the typical characteristics of drivers who select these titles, with factors including driving experience, claims history and driving behaviour taken into account. Motoring expert at Confused.com, Rhydian Jones, explained: "Data shows that men typically pay more for their insurance than women. And this is due to the fact that, statistically, men tend to have a higher risk profile than women.
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"While data suggests that women are marginally more likely to have made a claim, or have a relatively similar number of convictions to men, data suggests that it's often the case that the severity of these is far greater for men. For example, data shows that men are twice as likely to have more severe convictions, like driving without insurance, careless driving, or driving under the influence. And men are more likely to have multiple, or higher penalties on their licence compared to women. And the more severe the incident, or value of claim being made, the bigger the impact on insurance will be."
CEO of Quotezone, Greg Wilson, reiterated the fact that the 'Mr' premium isn't because of gender, and is actually down to individuals in the group presenting higher risk factors. "This could be due to differences in occupation, mileage, claims or conviction history, or other relevant factors that insurers use to assess risk," he added.
The average premiums reported by Confused.com illustrate this gap very clearly. In Q1 of 2025, the average quote for 'Mr' was £1,695, compared with £1,331 for 'Miss' and £863 for 'Mrs' — while the cheapest was £720 for 'Ms'. Quotezone's data backs this up, showing this pattern also holds true across age groups, with 'Mr' consistently receiving higher quotes.
Differences between 'Miss' and 'Ms' are similarly explained by underlying risk factors such as age, location and claims history, rather than the title itself. So while some men might feel hard-done-by when looking at this data, it is the associated risk profile that drives the cost up, not title or gender.