https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/change-gender-identification-insurance-alberta-1.4754416?cmp=rssQuote
David, who lives in Alberta, says he identifies as a male. But his government-issued identification tells a different story.
It started when an insurance company gave David a quote — roughly $4,500 a year, if he bought the Chevy. He had a collision and a ticket or two on his record, which helped boost the premium.
Then, he had an idea. He asked the insurer what his costs would be if he were a woman. He was told his annual bill would sink to roughly $3,400 — a $1,100 difference.
"I was pretty angry about that. And I didn't feel like getting screwed over any more," he said.
"So I asked them to change my gender on my auto policy, and she's like, we can't do that."
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, men under 25 are generally at higher risk of collision than women of the same age, which means their premiums are often higher.
David, who was 23 at the time, says he learned he first had to change his gender on his birth certificate and driver's licence before he could have it reflected on his insurance policy, to get the cheaper rate.
After doing some research, he realized he needed a doctor's note to show the government he identifies as a woman, even though he doesn't.
"It was pretty simple," he said. "I just basically asked for it and told them that I identify as a woman, or I'd like to identify as a woman, and he wrote me the letter I wanted."
Under the rules in place at the time, Albertans needed to produce a doctor's note to switch the gender marker on their personal documents. In June, the government scrapped the doctor's note requirement for adults, allowing them to declare their marker as M, F or X, for those who don't fit into a strictly male or female binary.
David shipped the note and other paperwork off to the provincial government. And, a few weeks later, he received a new birth certificate in the mail indicating he was a woman.
"I was quite shocked, but I was also relieved," he said. "I felt like I beat the system. I felt like I won."
With the new birth certificate in hand, he changed his driver's licence and insurance policy.
All to save about $91 a month.
"I'm a man, 100 per cent. Legally, I'm a woman," he said.
"I did it for cheaper car insurance."
So we have an interesting story about a man who changed his gender to that of a woman to save on car insurance and i love this because it touches on a number of different issues and there's many different ways to look at it
do you think what he did was right or wrong?
1 - he's pursuing perfectly legal avenues albeit in bad faith to reduce his insurance costs and save money which is ultimately a good thing
2 - gender based discrimination against men in auto insurance rates
3 - statistics that support higher insurance premiums for young male drivers
4 - his insurance rate doesn't adequately reflect his statistical likelihood to having to use his insurance policy which is wrong
5 - mandatory auto insurance is a scam and you should do everything you can to lower it
which camp do you fall into
?
This post was edited by duffman316 on Jul 26 2018 10:24am