When you're a young driver, insurance can be pricey. Although you could technically be the safest one on the road, if you don't have the experience, you're going to pay a pretty penny while out on the open road.
While this is especially true for young men, who are considered more likely to be involved in a collision, one man decided to legally change his sex to get cheaper car insurance.
A man in his early 20s wrote on Reddit that after purchasing a new car, he decided to legally become a woman so he'd be entitled to lower insurance rates.
"I have taken advantage of a loophole," the man, only known as "David," told CBC when discussing his decision.
David, who resides in Alberta, Canada said that although he identifies as a male, he decided to legally change his sex after an insurance broker told him females pay roughly $3,400 a year compared to the $4,500 he'd approximately be charged as a man.
"The broker says, 'Oh it's not just us who discriminate, it's all insurance companies.' I said, 'yeah I know, that's actually worse.' The broker explains to me that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender when it comes to basic auto-insurance," he wrote on Reddit.
"When it comes to collision, however, it's still legal to discriminate against genders on the basis of contrast in driving-statistics," he added. "So I began asking more questions and digging deeper into what would happen to my auto-policy if I did change my gender. The broker assured me they would re-adjust my auto-policy on the day my gender changed. Right then and there I was determined to change my gender."
The Process
However, David, who was 23 at the time, had to go through several hoops to get the process started.
"To change my gender on my auto-policy I needed to change my gender on my Driver's License," David explained. "To change my gender on my driver's license I first needed to amend it on my birth certificate."
He began by getting in touch with the provincial government who said he'd have to complete several forms and get a note from a physician stating he identifies as a woman - even though he genuinely 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."
"I was quite shocked, but I was also relieved," he said. "I felt like I beat the system. I felt like I won."
After a few weeks, David was issued a new birth certificate, and thus able to alter his driver's licence and insurance policy. In total, he's now saving about $91 a month.
"I'm a man, 100%. Legally, I'm a woman," he said, clarifying that he knows changing ones gender marker is meant to reflect their true selves.
"I didn't do it to point out how easy it is to change genders," he continued. "I didn't do it to criticize or ridicule transgender or LGBT rights."
He also added a disclaimer to his Reddit post: "I must say (for anyone who tries to report me) that I didn't legally change my sex solely for cheaper auto insurance, though, that was and is a big factor for me and other people who suffer from gender-dysphoria."
According to data collected by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in the United States men are typically "twice as likely to die in fatal car crashes as women."
These statistics are partly due to the fact that more males are employed in jobs that require more time behind the wheel, and that speeding, reckless driving, and driving under the influence are habits more commonly seen in men.
What do you think about David's ploy to get cheaper car insurance? Let us know in the comments:
[H/T: CBC, Ottawa Citizen, Reddit]