Risk Classification and Automobile Insurance Premiums – A study on the Perceptions of Cypriot Policyholders on the Fairness of Automobile Risk Classification Variables
The intention of this study is to investigate the opinions of Cypriot insured drivers regarding the fairness of particular risk classification variables. Classification variables include, amongst others, age, gender, years of driving experience and driver record. The aim of this research paper is al...
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| Format: | Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2010
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/23578/ |
| Summary: | The intention of this study is to investigate the opinions of Cypriot insured drivers regarding the fairness of particular risk classification variables. Classification variables include, amongst others, age, gender, years of driving experience and driver record. The aim of this research paper is also to establish whether significant associations exist between the opinions of Cypriot insured drivers and a number of demographic and other policyholder characteristics which are used to set premiums in automobile insurance.
A hundred and sixteen usable questionnaires were collected from respondents of different ages across the country of Cyprus. The research revealed that the majority of the respondents considered as fair the practice of charging higher premiums to very young drivers, whilst 80.2% and 88.8% of the respondents considered to some degree unfair charging higher premiums to male drivers and charging higher premiums to unmarried drivers respectively. Almost half of the respondents chose age as the classification variable they considered that should be of highest importance and 31.9% of the respondents chose marital status as the one that they believed should be of least importance in setting automobile insurance premiums. Moreover, even if respondents supported the elimination of specific rating factors, the majority opposed the elimination of all rating factors.
Significant associations were found to exist between charging higher premiums to young drivers and the age of the respondent, and the above practice and the years of driving experience of the respondent. Significant associations were also found to exist between charging higher premiums to male drivers and the gender of the respondent since more male drivers were more likely to oppose the above practice than female drivers. Contrary to the above, no association was found to exist between opinions regarding the elimination of age as a rating factor and the years of driving experience of the respondent. |
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