Do Men Pay More Than Women for Car Insurance in NZ 2026?

1. At What Age Do Men Stop Paying More for Car Insurance?

Age 50, according to our April 2026 Market Scan data. Men pay more at every age from 20 to 40, but by 50 the gap has effectively disappeared. The penalty peaks in a man's twenties and shrinks steadily with every decade after that.

Here is how the gap shrinks as drivers age, based on our sample profile across the six insurers that quoted both genders. Your own gender gap can vary based on your age, location, vehicle, driving history, claims record and choice of insurer:

• Age 20: Men pay 9.3% more ($19.86 extra per month)

• Age 30: Men pay 7.6% more ($9.55 extra per month)

• Age 40: Men pay 2.2% more ($2.51 extra per month)

• Age 50: Essentially tied (within 2 cents a month)

• Age 70: Essentially tied (women $1.64 a month more, driven almost entirely by one insurer)

Across our sample scan, the story most people expect is “men pay more, always.” The truth is sharper: men pay more when they are young, the penalty shrinks every decade, and by 50 it is gone.

2. Why Do Young Men Pay More for Car Insurance?

Because the crash data backs it up. New Zealand insurers are legally allowed to use gender in their pricing, and they use it because young male drivers file more claims than young women.

Drivers aged 16 to 24 make up only 13% of licence holders but account for around 30% of serious road injuries, according to data cited by Tower Insurance. Within that group, young men are over-represented in speeding, alcohol-related and fatal crashes.

Insurers turn that risk into price. Quashed CEO Justin Lim, speaking to RNZ in November 2025, said the premium for young male drivers ranges from 2% to 17% more than the identical profile listed as female. The exact loading depends on the insurer, the car and the suburb.

If you are under 25, our Young Driver Car Insurance NZ 2026 guide digs into claim statistics, excess structures and the insurers that treat newer drivers most fairly.

3. How Much Does the Gender Gap Cost Men by Age?

The gap peaks at $19.86 a month at age 20 and shrinks every decade to effectively zero by 50. Here is the full picture across the market-average premium, using the same six-insurer basket at each age. Insurers that did not quote for both genders were excluded from the average.

Average monthly premium by age and gender – our sample profile

Source: Quashed Market Scan, April 2026.

Two things jump out. First, the age effect dwarfs the gender effect. A 50-year-old man pays $130 a month less than a 20-year-old man on the same car and address. That is a 56% drop. The gender penalty at its peak is less than $20. Second, every age bracket under 50 shows men paying more. We did not find a single age bracket under 50 where women paid more on the market average.

4. Which Insurers Have the Biggest Gender Gap at Age 20?

AA Insurance. At age 20, AA charges our male sample driver $50.36 a month more than our female sample driver for identical cover. Assurant follows at $29.95, then Provident and Tower at around $19 each. At the other end, MAS and Autosure quoted the same price to both genders.

20-year-old driver – monthly premium by insurer (NZ Restricted, 3 years’ experience)

Source: Quashed Market Scan, April 2026.

If you are a young man, which insurer you pick matters more than almost anything else you can change. Going with MAS means gender is not on your pricing bill at all. Going with AA Insurance means paying an extra $604 a year to be male.

5. Do Women Ever Pay More Than Men for Car Insurance?

Yes, at some insurers from age 50 onwards. Tower Insurance is the clearest example. From age 50 onwards, Tower quotes women higher than men on our sample profile, and the gap widens through to age 70.

Again, based on our sample scan and profile, at age 40, Tower still charges our male driver slightly more ($166.75 vs $163.97). By age 50, the line crosses. Our 50-year-old woman pays $157.58, her male equivalent pays $151.83. By 70 the gap has widened to $11.97 a month, or around $144 a year.

That pattern is not unique to Tower. According to reporting by RNZ, Consumer NZ’s most recent car insurance survey found that some insurers charge women more than men once they reach middle age or older.

Why the crossover? Insurers build their pricing on their own claim data, not a universal gender rule. If one insurer’s middle-aged and older female customers have lodged more claims or higher-value claims than their male equivalents, the pricing reflects it. Another insurer with different claim patterns reaches the opposite conclusion.

For older drivers specifically, our Car Insurance for Seniors NZ 2026 guide walks through the other age-related factors insurers quietly load into your premium once you pass 60.

6. What Affects Your Car Insurance Premium More Than Gender?

Age dominates everything. Across our April 2026 data, the biggest premium drivers are:

• Age and experience. A 20-year-old pays more than double what a 50-year-old pays on the same car and address. On our profile, $233 a month versus $103 a month.

• Location. The Q1 2026 Quashed Index puts the Auckland average comprehensive premium at $1,478 a year, compared to $1,115 in Wellington and $1,166 in Canterbury.

• Vehicle. Theft-prone and expensive-to-repair cars cost more to insure, regardless of who is driving.

• No-claims history. A clean record is usually worth more in savings than your gender is in loadings.

• Excess level. Lifting your excess from $500 to $1,000 can reduce your premium by 10 to 20% with many insurers.

7. How to Find the Cheapest Car Insurance for Your Profile

Compare across insurers. In Q1 2026, 81% of Kiwis who ran their comprehensive car insurance through the Quashed Market Scan found a cheaper policy, saving on average $377 a year.

Gender might add 2% to 17% to one insurer’s quote, but the spread between the cheapest and most expensive quote for the same profile is often 100% or more. Our 30-year-old male sample driver could pay $90.43 a month with Assurant, or $216.12 a month with Tower. Same car, same address, same excess, just a different insurer.

The fastest way to avoid overpaying, whether you are male or female, is to let the market compete for your business. Run a free Quashed Market Scan and see 10+ insurers side by side in about two minutes.

8. Can Listing Your Wife as Main Driver Lower Your Car Insurance?

Only if she genuinely is the main driver. If your wife or de-facto partner drives the car more than you do, listing them as main driver is legitimate and their lower-risk profile can reduce the premium. Across the 9 NZ insurers we tested for that scenario, however, only Assurant priced lower when the female was listed as the more frequent driver, and only AA Insurance produced a cheaper quote from a label swap alone. The other seven charged the same regardless. If you are the one driving it most and you list them anyway, that is called fronting. Fronting is insurance fraud in New Zealand and it voids your cover the moment you try to claim.

New Zealand law treats spouses and de-facto partners equivalently for insurance disclosure purposes, so the same rules apply whether you are married or not. We break down exactly where the line sits, when it is legal and when it crosses into fraud, in our guide: Can I Save on Car Insurance by Listing my Wife or Girlfriend as the Main Driver? NZ 2026. For the teen-driver version of the same trap, see Teen Drivers in NZ: The Risks of Fronting.

Related Reading

• Average Cost of Car, House and Contents Insurance NZ 2026. The latest Quashed Index benchmarks by region and age group.

• Young Driver Car Insurance NZ 2026. How to lower premiums before you turn 25.

• Car Insurance for Seniors NZ 2026. What changes once you hit 60.

• Cheap Car Insurance NZ 2026: Proven Ways to Lower Your Premium. Practical, data-backed tips to reduce your car insurance costs.

• Can I Save on Car Insurance by Listing my Wife or Girlfriend as the Main Driver? NZ 2026. Our 9-insurer test of whether listing your wife or girlfriend as the main driver actually saves you money, and where the line sits before it becomes fronting.

• Teen Drivers in NZ: The Risks of Fronting. When listing a lower-risk driver crosses the legal line.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do men pay more for car insurance in New Zealand?

Yes. Across the April 2026 Quashed Market Scan data, men pay more on the market average at every age from 20 to 40. The gap is 9.3% at age 20, 7.6% at 30, and 2.2% at 40. By age 50 the gap has disappeared (within 2 cents a month either way), and at 70 women pay a trivial $1.64 a month more, driven almost entirely by one insurer.

At what age does car insurance get cheaper for men?

The biggest drops come in a man’s twenties. On our sample profile, the average male premium falls from $233 a month at age 20 to $135 at age 30, a 42% reduction in a decade. By 50 it is down to $103, and by 70 it is $93. Most insurers treat age 25 as their main risk boundary.

Is it legal for insurers to charge men more than women in NZ?

Yes. New Zealand does not prohibit gender-based pricing in car insurance, unlike the European Union. Insurers are allowed to use gender, along with age, location, vehicle and driving history, when setting premiums. RNZ reporting in November 2025 confirmed the practice is widespread across major NZ insurers.

Which insurer has the biggest gender gap in NZ?

At age 20, AA Insurance has the largest gender gap on our sample profile, charging a male driver $50.36 a month more than a female driver for identical cover. Assurant, Tower and Provident follow. MAS and Autosure quote the same price to men and women at that age. The best way to find your cheapest insurer is to compare live quotes through the Quashed Market Scan.

Do women ever pay more than men for car insurance in NZ?

Yes, at some insurers from age 50 onwards. Tower Insurance charges our 50-year-old female sample driver $157.58 a month compared to $151.83 for the male equivalent, and that gap widens to $11.97 a month at age 70. Consumer NZ’s most recent car insurance survey, as reported by RNZ, also found that certain insurers charge women more once they reach middle age or older.

Can I lower my car insurance by listing my wife as the main driver?

Only if she is genuinely the main driver. The same rule applies to husbands and de-facto partners. Listing a lower-risk partner as main driver when you are the one driving most is called fronting, and it is insurance fraud in New Zealand. Fronting voids your cover at claim time. For the full breakdown, see our Can I Save on Car Insurance by Listing my Wife or Girlfriend as the Main Driver? NZ 2026 guide and our Teen Drivers and the Risks of Fronting article.