Admiral hikes insurance costs for drivers using Hotmail email addresses

CAR insurer Admiral last night admitted hiking premiums for drivers applying via Hotmail.

The Sun asked about policies using identical details but different mail accounts.

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Enquiries via Hotmail saw quotes up to £31.36 costlier than those made via Gmail.

Admiral said email domains — the part after the “@” — affects how risky it deems motorists. It said: “Certain domain names are associated with more accidents than others.”

We found that on comparison website GoCompare, Admiral charged a Hotmail driver £467.04 and a Gmail one £435.68 — £31.36 less.

On MoneySuperMarket the £507.21 Hotmail quote was £6.57 dearer than using Gmail.

And while Admiral offered a £380.80 premium to a Hotmail user on Confused.com, using Gmail cost £.5.60 less.

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It follows our story yesterday inset, on how insurers charge drivers called Mohammed more — with Admiral’s £919 hike the steepest.

Martha Spurrier of human rights group Liberty said: “This kind of discrimination has no place in the UK.” The Financial Conduct Authority is looking into our exposé.

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But Admiral said: “We’ve never used a name or any other information to rate on race.

“The quotes were not like-for-like.”