Europe might ban cheaper car
insurance for women
Update
- 1 Mar 2011: They did! See this article for more:
EU ECJ bans gender
discrimination in car insurance
24 Nov 2010
by Donald MacKenzie
Judges at the European Court of Justice have been asked to adjudicate
on whether women being provided with lower car insurance
premiums in Europe effectively contravenes anti-discrimination laws as
laid out by the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Lisbon Treaty.
The judgement has been requested by Juliane Kokott, Advocate General at
the European Court of Justice, who believes that this practice should
be unlawful.
If the judges agree, this will put an end to lower cost car insurance
for women, even although they drive fewer miles than men and have less
accidents.
At present, the Euopean Union's Equal Treatment Directive does include
a clause that allows insurance providers to base the premium partly on
sex and it is this clause that the Advocate General wishes the judges
to re-examine, potentially with a view to removing it.
According to an article in the
Telegraph last month, the request for this review followed
complaints made to the Belgian Constitutional Court opposing this
exemption.
The clause in question, article 5(2) of EU Directive 2004/113, allows
for differential insurance pricing where "use of sex is a determining
factor in the assessment of risk based on relevant and accurate
actuarial and statistical data". On the basis of fact, the latter
cannot be argued with - your sex does effect risk. However, central to
Julianne Kokott's view is that as you do not choose your sex, this
amounts to discrimination and therefore insurance products should be
developed blind to sex differences in risk.
Not unsuprisingly, there has been a lot of resistance to the possible
loss of sex discriminiation in car insurance pricing from the industry
and other quarters that correctly point out that this would lead to job
losses.
Whether or not it is fair depends on your personal standpoint. Their
judgement is expected before the end of this year.
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