It’s been the subject of much discussion over the course of the last few months, and now it’s official; women will have to pay more for their car insurance in the future following a ruling from the European Court of Justice which found that gender bias in calculating insurance rates is discriminatory. Women currently benefit from cheaper rates of car insurance as they are viewed as a lower risk group compared to male drivers who are statistically more likely to be involved in an accident. Figures also show that male drivers tend to be involved in more serious accidents than their female counterparts, and so in the past, insurance companies have used these kinds of statistics to calculate risk. However the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg has ruled this week that using gender as a “risk factor” to calculate the cost of car insurance premiums “constitutes discrimination”. The ruling means that from December 2012, insurance companies will no longer be able to offer lower rates of cover to drivers based on their gender. As a result, female drivers could face an increase in the cost of their insurance of up to 25%, while male drivers could see a reduction of as much as 10%. As well as affecting the insurance premiums, the ruling will also have an impact on the way life insurance and pensions are calculated.