The battle of the sexes is rife when it comes to driving. Jokes about women motorists are as plentiful as ever. And the long-held views of some men that women are dangerous when behind the wheel of a moving vehicle are not helped by so-called academics who propound that view.

The latest piece of ‘evidence’ as to why ‘women can’t drive’ is from scientists at the University of Giessen in Germany. Writing in the journal Intelligence, they say that “spatial skills such as map reading and parking may be difficult for some women because they had too little testosterone in the womb".

It’s official – women are safer drivers

But maybe, my scientist friends, this lack of testosterone is the reason why women have been statistically proven to be safer drivers and make fewer, less expensive, claims than their male counterparts.

Government figures reveal that men commit 88% of all motoring offences and are involved in 97% of dangerous driving cases. And the Association of British Insurers (ABI) says men under the age of 30 make 10% more claims on their car insurance than women of the same age.

According to Diamond, one of the many women-only insurance companies that have appeared on the market in recent years, the majority of women's motor insurance claims are the result of minor bumps and scrapes rather than the more serious accidents that men have. On average, women drive shorter distances, have lower mileage, and tend to drive more cautiously than their male counterparts.

This was exactly the kind of reasoning that Anna Diamantopoulou, the European Commission's social affairs commissioner, objected to a few years ago, when she threatened to prompt a sharp increase in women’s premiums by scrapping the female-friendly stance being widely adopted by insurers. She said female-friendly pricing discriminated against men and needed changing. Fortunately for us, girls, she was unsuccessful and women-only insurers were allowed to continue touting their policies.

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Jumping on the female bandwagon

Since then, even more insurers have jumped on the ‘girls only’ bandwagon.

Sheilas’ Wheels, a division of esure, is perhaps the most high-profile entrant and has some distinctly female marketing ploys up its sleeve. Its policies include additional cover of up to £300 for your handbag if it's stolen or damaged while in your car, and a network of repairers trained to follow a female-friendly code of practice (whatever that is).

A spokesman for Sheilas’ Wheels says: “The idea for Sheilas' Wheels grew from research we carried out at in 2004, when esure strongly opposed an EU directive that would have seen women forced to subsidise men through their car insurance premiums.

“We found that women claim less, are responsible for far fewer driving convictions and have attitudes towards cars, driving and other road users that are often more considered than those of their male counterparts. We wanted to reward these differences and decided that we needed a new brand and a whole new look at car insurance for women to make it happen.

“We recognised that women are far more likely than men to carry a bag containing their purses and valuables with them when driving. Yet with most insurers there's limited cover to reflect this.

“Repairers were another bone of contention. Many women hate the idea of the stereotypical teeth-sucking, tyre-kicking garage mechanic. So we set all of our repairers standards that guard against patronising attitudes.”

That’s the female-friendly code of practice explained. So far, so good.

Do female-only insurers offer the best deals?

But do these female-friendly, pink-logoed, almost comic-book offerings from the usually dowdy world of insurance really provide the best value for money for the UK’s women drivers?

According to a price comparison survey carried out by Direct Excellence for Tesco Car Insurance, almost three quarters of women drivers get a better deal from mainstream motor insurers than most women-only specialists.

The survey of the cost of annual cover for 50 women drivers aged 18 to 60, found that in 72% of cases, it would be cheaper to ignore companies that specifically target women drivers. The difference could mean an average saving of £85 a year.

Allan Burns, head of motor insurance at Tesco Insurance says: "The car insurance industry acknowledges that women are safer drivers and most companies price accordingly. So women shouldn’t be lured into believing that a company that takes on only female drivers is necessarily going to offer them the cheapest premiums.”

As Mike Wall, from Ladybird, one of the insurers targeting women drivers says, it always pays to shop around. “Just because one company is cheap for one driver doesn't mean the same will necessarily be true for every driver,” he said.

And, as Adrian Webb at esure, the company behind Sheilas’ Wheels, adds: “The majority of women can get their gender to work for them when it comes to car insurance, but, overall, it is about getting the best cover for the best price wherever you buy.”

And that applies to all sorts of insurance. However, when it comes to annuities, we girls aren’t so fortunate. The fact that we live, on average, longer than men, counts against us. Driving’s fine. But if you want a better pension deal, you’ll have to come back in the next life as a man and a smoker to boot.

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