Man changes gender to get cheaper car insurance

A man in Canada used a legal loophole to change his gender on his birth certificate and driving licence in order to get cheaper car insurance, according to reports.

The 24-year-old, who has not been named, found out that the cost of his car insurance would be CAD $3,423 (£1,995) a year if he was a woman, rather than the $4,517 (£2,630) a year he was quoted as a man.

“I was pretty angry about that,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Thus his plan to save on insurance for his new Chevy Cruze was born. The man, from Alberta, simply had to obtain a doctor’s note stating that he identified as a member of the opposite sex in order to change his gender on official documents.

“It was pretty simple,” he told CBC. “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.”

The gender-swapping motorist - whose driving record includes a minor crash and a couple of speeding tickets - emphasised that he does not identify as a woman, despite his official status. “I’m a man, 100%” he said.

“I felt like I beat the system. I felt like I won,” he added.

His actions have been condemned by the LGBTQ community in Canada, says the Daily Mail.

Marie Little, former chair of the Trans Alliance Society, said: “I think it cheapens the whole process. It sort of casts doubt on everybody else’s motives for making those changes. I think it gives ammunition to people who want to take rights away from trans people.”

In an unrelated move, officials in Alberta have since scrapped the doctor’s-note requirement and now allow adults to declare their gender as M, F, or X for gender non-binary people, reports the New York Post.