Young drivers have long been used to the fact that they can expect to pay a lot more for car insurance than their older counterparts. However, the new Equalities Bill which is set to shake up insurance following claims that travel insurance is discriminatory to older people, could change all that.

As it stands, research from Uswitch.com, a well known and popular price comparison web site, has shown that currently, young drivers pay more than double for their premiums. Compared to the prices other drivers pay, young drivers pay 115 per cent more.

In certain cases, such as when a young person wishes to get insured on a particularly powerful car, they are unable to find insurance at all.

Young drivers, that is, drivers aged between 17 and 25, make up just 7 per cent of the car insurance market, but they are paying 22 per cent of all premiums across the industry. Due to a higher risk associated with their age and inexperience premiums are higher, meaning that young motorists end up paying a whopping £940 million more than other drivers.

In many cases, insurance ends up costing more than a young person has actually paid for the car itself. For example, if a young driver in a high risk area opted for fully comprehensive insurance on a sporty model such as a Golf GTI, they could end up paying £14,600 for their insurance when the car itself only costs £5,000.

These seemingly outrageously high premiums do relate to a much higher risk posed by insuring young drivers. Despite only representing 7 per cent of the insurance market, young drivers account for 16 per cent of motoring offences.

Breaking the age group down further, under 21 year olds account for 34 per cent of dangerous driving offences. And young male drivers are ten times more likely to be involved in an accident.

There is some light an the end of the tunnel, as those who do not make any claims will see their premiums fall sharply. A young driver who has been driving for eight years and not made a claim between the ages of 17 and 25, can see their premium fall by as much as 90 per cent.

It is unclear yet whether the Equalities Bill will impact on insurance premiums for young drivers as there is such overwhelming evidence to indicate that young drivers pose a much higher risk. Ashton Berkhauer, insurance expert at uSwitch.com, had this to say:

"In theory, the Equalities Bill could mean the end of the road for higher premiums for young drivers. However, insurers have to price by risk and there is clear evidence that younger drivers are more of a hazard on the roads.

“If the Bill calls for pricing to be equal across age groups this could lead to a rise in premiums for lower risk, safer drivers, who would effectively be subsidising their higher risk counterparts.

“There is also a danger that many more ‘boy racers' will find that they can afford to insure faster, flashier cars - we could see accidents increase as a result. This would be wrong and we urge the Government to seriously consider all the implications before implementing any change.