It seems van drivers have never shaken off the ‘white van man' stereotype. This largely unfair description generally describes independent traders who display poor, aggressive, or inconsiderate habits when behind the wheel.

However, in 2012, a provider of commercial van insurance published research which suggested this stereotype was a thing of the past. After polling a selection of van drivers, the researchers found that, far from routinely violating the rules of the road, almost 70% of respondents had not been convicted of a traffic offence within the last 10 years.

In addition, 39% of individuals polled thought the white van man stereotype was accurate, while 14% were insulted by the term.

The provider of business van insurance appears to have proved that the majority of van drivers display excellent skills when behind the wheel. However, they also published a statistic which could smash the white van man stereotype for good – up to a third of the respondents were female.

While conducting this research, a spokesman for the company stated increasing numbers of women were using vans. Potentially, as female motorists are statistically less likely to suffer serious traffic accidents and make expensive claims, employers might have been able to reduce their premiums by adding women onto their any driver van insurance policies.

However, although females have traditionally enjoyed cheaper quotes than their male counterparts, all this changed on the 21st December 2012. On this date, the EU Gender Directive came into effect, preventing insurers from using gender as a risk factor when calculating premiums.

When van insurance holders, or car owners, renewed or purchased a policy, they could have seen the price of their vehicle cover increase. In the case of young female road users, they might have seen their premiums rise by up to 50%.

However, shortly after the EU Gender Directive came into effect, an insurance company offered motorists the chance to reduce the price of their policies by ‘driving like a girl'.

This company, called drive like a girl, does not provide van insurance. However, if van drivers also use a car for personal reasons, they may find this website useful.

Drive like a girl is primarily aimed at helping women between the ages of 17 and 25 cut the cost of their cover, but they will also sell insurance to anyone who displays safe motoring habits – including men.

By using a data collection device, called an in-tele-box, drive like a girl can analyse a motorist's abilities behind the wheel. By demonstrating safe driving habits for the first three months, policyholders may have some of their money refunded. By continuing to drive safely, they could see the cost of their policy reduce at renewal.

Therefore, although drive like a girl does not cover vans, car owners should head over to this website to see how much they could save.