What is the Gender Directive and what does it mean to me?
At Volvo Car Insurance, we’ve always rewarded safer drivers with lower premiums. However, the European Court of Justice has decided that no insurer can consider whether you are a man or a woman when working out the cost of new insurance premiums from 21st December 2012 onwards.

Most of our customers will notice little change, although younger drivers are more likely to be affected, specifically those under 25. We will do everything we can to make sure it affects you as little as possible.

Are you using this as an excuse to increase the cost of insurance premiums?
No. This is a new EU law and all insurers across Europe legally have to review their prices.

Can you tell me what my renewal quote will be with the new gender neutral prices?
We’ll be able to give you a renewal quote with the new gender neutral prices 35 days before you reach your renewal date. As always, we’ll give you sufficient notice of your new premium before your cover runs out, so you know exactly where you stand.

I’ve got a quote for a new Volvo Car Insurance policy. How long is my quote guaranteed?
Normally our on-line quotes are guaranteed for 30 days. However, owing to the new legislation, quotes made after 20th November will only be valid until the 20th December.

Quotes for policies due to start on or after the 21st December will revert to normal validation periods which are 90 days for quotations provided by our call centre and 30 days for quotations provided on-line.

All policy renewal quotations are valid until the renewal date.

Why do you still ask for my gender on forms if you don’t need it to work out my premium?
We need to know about your gender so that we can refer to you correctly when we speak or write to you.

Also the EU legislation says we can continue to “collect, store and use” information about gender for use in marketing and advertising.

Will the European Gender Directive affect any other part of my policy?
No. The EU ruling is purely about gender and pricing, so there’s no need to change the cover you enjoy as a result of this.