what's the matter with 'EU' ?

A landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice means that insurance companies can not discriminate on the basis of sex when calculating premiums.

Insurance firms had an opt-out of a gender discrimination directive due to the wide use of sex in deciding premiums but the UK must now implement the policy into law by December 21 2012 at the latest.

In today’s judgement the Court points out that the European Union aims to eliminate inequalities and to promote equality between men and women.

Widespread use of differentiation between the sexes means the ruling will have a huge impact on the pricing of all insurance and protection products.

Matt Morris, Senior Policy Adviser, commented: “This is a horrible mistake by the European Court. It is essential for insurers to use gender to calculate risk based on solid actuarial evidence and statistics. It is price differentiation, not discrimination, as it is not a decision that comes down to the whim of an individual.

“The consumer will now suffer. Prices will go up across the board as insurance companies try to build in the new risk. Women currently pay more than men for Life Insurance, whereas men pay less for Income Protection.

“It is very unlikely premiums to meet in the middle because there will be huge costs to the industry of re-pricing and updating their systems so everyone will end up paying the higher rate. Everyone loses.”