Do car insurance companies discriminate against people with disabilities? Disability pricing discrimination shouldn’t affect the price of your car insurance premium. But, if your car insurance company doesn’t understand disability, this can happen – even if unintentionally.

Often, car insurance companies aren’t discriminating against drivers or passengers with disability. But that said, many do charge more for conversions which they see as a greater risk to cover. Here at Blue Badge Insurance, we understand that disability doesn’t make you a riskier driver and that conversions don’t depreciate the same way as luxury modifications.

So how should disability factor into insurance? Should it factor into it at all? The short answer is yes, but positively rather than negatively. Find out more about disability and pricing discrimination in car insurance.

Understanding ‘risk’ in car insurance

We’ve all heard stories about insurance companies offering cheaper prices based on strange things like the colour of your car or marital status, but what impact does disability have on price? The answer may surprise you.

Insurance is all about risk, and it’s not uncommon for insurance companies to charge more to insure riskier drivers and riskier cars. For example, a young driver will typically pay more than middle-aged drivers because younger drivers are more likely to be involved in an accident because they are less experienced.

Similarly, it will cost more to insure classic and performance cars, as well as those fitted with expensive accessories like alloy wheels, body kits and turbo engines because they are at higher risk of theft and sometimes used in riskier driving situations.

Learn about getting disability car insurance discounts with Blue Badge Insurance.

How does disability rate in car insurance?

Many car insurance companies often don’t even know if their clients have a disability. It’s not a question you’d see on a car insurance quote form. You could argue that asking such a question is a form of disability discrimination.

After all, simply having a disability doesn’t necessarily impact a person’s driving skills. While a person’s age, gender and driving history will always affect their insurance premium, their disability should not be discriminated against or amount to higher premiums.

What’s interesting to know is that insurance statistics show that people with disability and the people who drive them are generally safer drivers because they have fewer accidents that result in insurance claims.

This means that they should receive lower insurance premiums because they are less risky to insure.

In some cases the person with the disability doesn’t always drive themselves. This is certainly the case when a child has a disability, or an elderly person relies on their family, friend or a carer to drive them. Whether you drive your car or someone else drives it, we’ll discount your car insurance if you have a disability parking permit.

Can disability conversions lead to pricing discrimination?

Disability conversions can be complex and expensive. One of the most common conversions are vans that have been structurally modified to fit a ramp that allows a wheelchair user to access the car. These Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles or WAVs and don’t come cheap.

WAV conversions can cost between $25,000 and $35,000 on top of the cost of the car itself.

• Mainstream vs specialist disability car insurance. Because mainstream insurance providers aren’t familiar with disability conversions, they typically price these conversions in the same way as high-end performance conversions. As Forbes shows, performance conversions usually increase insurance costs.

• Disability discrimination pricing. This means people with disability conversions are often paying higher prices than they should. Although this isn’t technically disability discrimination, it also isn’t fair. Especially considering that disability modifications are a necessity rather than a luxury.

This is simply another reason why it pays to shop around and consider a specialist insurance provider that has a better understanding of disability converted cars.

What’s the right level of car insurance cover?

When comparing insurance products, it’s important to not only compare prices, but also policy benefits, payment limits, excesses, claims processes/timings and customer service to make sure you compare apples with apples.

If you have a disability parking permit but drive a standard car, you should look for an insurance provider that recognises and rewards your likelihood to be involved in fewer incidents.

If you have disability conversions you should make sure you understand how these will be covered by your policy so you don’t face extra out of pocket expenses if you have an accident. Read more about whether disability converted vehicle insurance.

Avoiding disability discrimination: a customer case

It’s important to ask how your conversions will be depreciated. Most insurers depreciate the value of disability conversions at the same rate as the car. The problem with this is that most disability conversions don’t depreciate.

• Modifications can depreciate. Materials and labour get more expensive every year so if your conversion has been depreciated, there may be a big gap between your insurance payout and the cost of getting your car back on the road if you have an accident.

• Car valuation over time. Take Jen from Adelaide for example. Jen had a WAV that she bought brand new in 2011 for $65,000. She insured her car with one of Australia’s largest insurance companies until she noticed the total value of her car had dropped to just $35,000.

• Switching to specialist car insurance. After realising that this would only be enough to pay for a new ramp installation (but no car!) Jen decided to shop around and found Blue Badge Insurance, which allows people to cover disability conversions on a new-for-old replacement basis (terms apply). The higher level of cover gave Jen the peace of mind she needed at an affordable price, so she made the switch.

Better safe than sorry with the right type of car insurance

A few months later, someone rear-ended Jen’s car and her car was a total write-off. Thankfully, her Blue Badge payout was enough to cover the costs of a van and a new ramp. Had she stayed with her previous insurance provider, she would have been over $15,000 out of pocket.

Get specialist disability car insurance with your disability parking permit

If you have a disability parking permit, it makes sense to shop around to make sure you get the right level of cover for a fair price. You can avoid disability discrimination in your car insurance pricing by working with a specialist.

Get up to 25% off car insurance for wheelchair accessible vehicles and disability converted cars with your disability parking permit. This counts whether or not your car is converted.

If you’re interested to find out about Blue Badge Insurance’s specialist car insurance policy for disability parking permit holders, click below to start an online quote. Alternatively, call us for an obligation free quote on 1300 304 802.