This week, Malta adopted the European Union’s new rules that prevent gender discrimination when it comes to insurance cover, meaning that the possibility of offering one rate of insurance cover for women and another for men will no longer be allowed.
Testosterone-fuelled young males are, all the statistics suggest, a danger on the road. Young men are prone to drive too fast, late at night, and cause horrific fatalities, and young males are known to be 10 times more likely to be killed or injured than a driver aged over 35 – the main reason why insurance companies would prefer charging young males higher premiums.

But as from 21 December, insurers across the EU will be banned from taking gender into consideration when setting premiums.

The EU gender directive actually affects all insurance products, not just car insurance. So from next month it will be illegal to use gender as a basis for discriminating in the pricing of any product, life insurance included. Women are expected to lose on life insurance as they pay lower premiums since they enjoy longer life expectancy.