pruhealth charge women more for insurance - is it legal?

huwoman

I found out that Pruhealth have been charging women more for insurance even when men are older, is this legal? Do they have to tell women or is it fraud if they have been charging additional monies without telling their customers..

Amistoso_2

isn't insurance worked out on different factors? perhaps insuring women is more expensive than men. How are they charging additional money? additional to what?

trisontana

I think this is because women tend to live longer than men so are probably more likely to put in more claims. Heavy smokers get the best private pension annuities because the companies know that they will probably die at an earlier age. So it's cheaper in the long run for them.

Nilrem

Amistoso wrote: »

isn't insurance worked out on different factors? perhaps insuring women is more expensive than men. How are they charging additional money? additional to what?

Yup

If statistically a woman of a certain age is more likely to require a pay out than a man (even if the man is older) it's perfectly legal, as all insurance is done on the statistical probability of a payout being required..

It's exactly the same situation as Women drivers and Male drivers for car insurance, or a 17yo vs a 35yo for car insurance, or if you're in an area that has a higher flood risk than normal you'll pay more than someone a few hundred meters away who lives at the top of a hill.

moonrakerz

"Insurers in the UK were already prevented from treating men and women differently under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (and in Northern Ireland the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976).

The Act, however, included an exemption allowing insurers to discriminate on gender grounds, provided it was with reference to "actuarial or other data from a source on which it was reasonable to rely" and the treatment was reasonable "having regard to that data and any other relevant factors".

As a result, insurers have continued to take gender into account in the calculation of premiums and benefits in life and critical illness policies, annuities, private medical insurance, travel insurance, motor insurance and other types of cover where data shows that the sex of the insured can have an effect on the risk."

Amistoso_2

Nilrem wrote: »

Yup

If statistically a woman of a certain age is more likely to require a pay out than a man (even if the man is older) it's perfectly legal, as all insurance is done on the statistical probability of a payout being required..

It's exactly the same situation as Women drivers and Male drivers for car insurance, or a 17yo vs a 35yo for car insurance, or if you're in an area that has a higher flood risk than normal you'll pay more than someone a few hundred meters away who lives at the top of a hill.

that's what I was trying to get across, insurance is based on all sorts of different factors. So it's not a huge shock to find out woman may pay more, and I would think certainly not illegal

Mark_Hewitt

huwoman wrote: »

I found out that Pruhealth have been charging women more for insurance even when men are older, is this legal? Do they have to tell women or is it fraud if they have been charging additional monies without telling their customers..

Women drivers generally get cheaper car insurance than their male counterparts. It's entirely legal.

huwoman

It is useful to find out that they can charge differently but I should add that I am being asked to pay more than a man who is almost a decade older than me. This I think must be wrong but they are refusing to give me the information to allow me to find out if the criteria applied to assessing the premium levels is reasonable.

On top of this, Pruhealth are trying to prevent me from accessing the criteria they are using to assess my premium, surely this bit is illegal? and also they did not tell me from the outset that they were even taking my gender into account? This must be wrong.

Gavin83

huwoman wrote: »

It is useful to find out that they can charge differently but I should add that I am being asked to pay more than a man who is almost a decade older than me. This I think must be wrong but they are refusing to give me the information to allow me to find out if the criteria applied to assessing the premium levels is reasonable.

On top of this, Pruhealth are trying to prevent me from accessing the criteria they are using to assess my premium, surely this bit is illegal? and also they did not tell me from the outset that they were even taking my gender into account? This must be wrong.

Maybe you should ring up your car insurers and ask to pay an added premium as you feel men and women should be treated equally. I really doubt your likely to do this though.

There are good and bad points to being a certain gender in insurance policies, you have to accept both Im afraid.

huwoman

None of the posts acknowledge that all I am asking for is the information that the actuaries use to apply the gender based premium. Pruhealth are desperate to deny me access to this information. How do I know if they are charging me an unreasonable sum just for being a woman given the company did not even admit to applying these differences until I discovered that they existed. I am not allowed to find out how or why so I could challenge it under the law. This is how I understand the Sex Discrimination laws work.

Some of what I assume are men angry about their car insurances seem to suggest I have sour grapes should know that I do not own a car so I am gaining any privileges from either cheaper car insurance or polluting the planet to get from A to B.

Mark_Hewitt

<Lenny Henry>
Oh, I get it. It's because I'm black isn't it!
</Lenny Henry>