'I Won': Man Becomes Woman to Score Cheaper Chevy Cruze Insurance Policy

Why didn’t I think of this? An Alberta man with a spotty driving record and a burning lust for the Chevrolet Cruze discovered you can save piles of cash if the government thinks you’re a woman. Or at least an individual who identifies as one.

Speaking anonymously to CBC, the man said his transition to a female (on paper) began after he approached insurance companies in search of coverage for his new — and quite sensible — compact sedan. Well, we assume it was the sedan.

What followed was a journey through genders, all to save 91 bucks a month.

Hot for Cruze, the man, then 23, soon discovered his driving past meant paying a Traverse-sized premium. It’s no secret that young people, guys especially, pose a risk to insurers, thus leaving them paying more for coverage. (Your author recalls recoiling in horror after getting a quote on an ’88 Mustang LX four-cylinder.)

One accident and two tickets meant the first insurer he spoke with quoted him $4,500. Ouch! In passing, the man, whom the news outlet refers to as David, asked what the reduction would be if he was a woman. It turns out that a lady David would pay $3,400 a year, leaving him with a cool $1,100 in his bank account.

“I was pretty angry about that,” he told Canada’s national broadcaster. “And I didn’t feel like getting screwed over any more.”

And so, like the protagonist in the Lou Reed song, he became a she. “David” learned that if he changed his gender on his birth certificate and driver’s license, he could qualify for the cheaper policy. But first, he required a doctor’s note.

“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.”

Had he waited until June, David wouldn’t have needed to visit the MD. Alberta recently scrapped the law requiring a doctor’s note before individuals can change their gender on government documents.

“I was quite shocked, but I was also relieved,” David said. “I felt like I beat the system. I felt like I won.”

With a driver’s license displaying his new gender in hand, David returned to his broker and got the policy he wanted. He also got the Cruze of his dreams. The Alberta man claims he didn’t go through this in order to cast aspersions at transgendered folk or the process of legally changing one’s gender. No, this was all about the insurance, he said, adding that he’s still all man.

We have to assume the Pride of Lordstown had something to do with it, too.

Having gamed the system, David’s sitting pretty. But he might not be the only man to undergo a sex change of sorts in order to lower his insurance costs. Steve Kee, spokesman for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told CBC that he’s heard “anecdotal” reports of other individuals doing the same thing — though with savings comes danger.

“If you’re going to declare on any document, you need to be truthful,” Kee said. “If not, you’re making a fraudulent claim. This could impact you for any future insurance application that you make, or any other aspect of your life.”

[Image: © Bozi Tatarevic/The Truth About Cars]