New European rules come into force today, meaning some women drivers are in for a shock when they receive their next car insurance quote.
The new gender-neutral rules stem from a European Court of Justice ruling last year which means insurers are no longer able to consider a customer's gender when calculating how much they pay for their car or life insurance, or what their retirement income should be.
Women have benefited from smaller car insurance premiums due to their lower accident rates, and predictions as to how they will be affected have varied widely, with some analysts predicting younger women could see their premiums almost double.
A spokesman for AA Insurance said: "The youngest drivers will be the most affected because young men are more than twice as likely to be killed or seriously injured in a car crash than their female peers."
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