Confused.com has unveiled a series of seven videos on YouTube, featuring anti-hero Charlie DeFouncs testing the patience of women to promote the fact that the EU Gender Directive comes into force next month.
The directive will mean that the use of gender as a rating factor by insurers will be banned, so reduced premiums based on the fact someone is female will no longer be allowed.
DeFouncs, portrayed as ‘Britain’s Worst Driver’ in the video series, is seen to begin wearing make-up and a wig in order to attempt to ‘get out’ of certain situations.
The video campaign was devised by Confused.com in order to create a platform from which to explain the impending changes to car insurance premiums.
Sharon Flaherty, head of content at Confused.com, said: “The changes due to be imposed by the new directive are certainly serious in nature, and thousands of women around the country aren’t going to be happy when they find that they can no longer enjoy the benefits of reduced car insurance premiums.
However, it is a difficult message to get across. No-one really gets out of bed and wants to hear about car insurance, but it was important that the seriousness of these important changes didn’t get lost and dismissed as ‘boring information’, as the directive is sure to impact women for years to come. That’s why we thought it was necessary to create a campaign that was somewhat controversial and eye-catching- allowing us to spread the message that car insurance is changing, and that people need to be aware.
By using Charlie as the vehicle, we were able to highlight the benefits that women currently enjoy in this respect, but aren’t going to around for much longer; something which Charlie DeFouncs found out the hard way! We encourage women who are coming up to renew their car insurance in December or January to shop around early and beat the 21 December deadline, taking advantage of the rates available before the Gender Directive takes effect; which may see predicted hikes for young women of up to 24 per cent.”