Sainsbury's Discriminate against the Unemployed.

LZL03

My wife has just been looking around the internet for car insurance,
and was shocked to learn that Sainsbury's do not insure unemployed
people.

However , the funny thing is my wife is employed, and is employed by
SAINSBURY'S themselves.

The refusal to offer insurance came when she was putting me down
as a named driver, and listed my occupation as Unemployed as I am
actually disabled and on incapacity benefit.

Both my wife and I have clean driving licenses, full no claims bonus
I have been driving 39 years, and my wife has been driving 14 years.

This is the first time we have ever been refused insurance in our lives
and are thoroughly disgusted with the attitude of the Sainsbury Group.


Maybe the unemployed, the disabled, should discriminate against
the supermarket and take their customer elsewhere.

lisyloo

Of course you can.

You can decide to shop where you like.
Insurers can decide who to insure.
Lenders can decide who to lend to.

You have choices just as they do.

Personally I hate Sainsburys with a passion, and have had a least two "run ins" with them, both of which were very heated, so I exercise my right as a consumer to shop elsewhere.

dacouch

Try ringing Sainsburys up, some Insurers do not mind putting disabled people who are on incapacity benefit down as being retired.

Please make sure you check with the Insurer before going ahead and make sure you make a note of the person's name and the date / time of the call.

DCFC79

Is it discrimination though ? theres restrictions like with other things in life which is what this sounds like,

LZL03

dacouch wrote: »

Try ringing Sainsburys up, some Insurers do not mind putting disabled people who are on incapacity benefit down as being retired.

Please make sure you check with the Insurer before going ahead and make sure you make a note of the person's name and the date / time of the call.

A letter of complaint is being sent direct to Justin King via Sainsbury's Internal mail system.

hermanmunster_3

Just put Househusband instead - never had any trouble with this when applying for things.

Was tempted by "living on own means" when filling in a form the other day LOL!

darich

So is it discrimination when younger drivers are quoted £6,000 to insure a car but old fogeys like me can insure more powerful cars for £450?

Of course not - they figure the younger driver is more likely to make a claim than the old fogey....so they inflate the premium to offset that risk.

It could be that in their opinion you or your wife will probably make a claim and as such refuse to insure you. It's not discrimination it's their choice. Your choice is now to take your custom away from the Sainsbury group

lisyloo

Is it discrimination though ?

Well yes it is discrimination, but legal discrimination.
For example lenders are allowed not to lend to people they think are not able to pay money back.
Employers are allowed to promote employess who perform well.
Employers are allowed to employ people they think will perform the job well.
These are all legal and totally justificable forms of discrimination.

Insurers will probably claim they have evidence that unemployed people are a higher risk. The problem here is that there isn't enough discrimination, i.e. it doesn't discrimate between people who can't work because of disibility.
So I think th problem is not enough discrimination rather than too much.
However insurers ARE allowed to discriminate on the basis of risk adn as a principle that's both legal and justificable.

Just put Househusband instead

If it's an internet system then you may be forced into certain choices on a drop down list.
Rather than getting a bee in their bonnet, the OP might be better off going to a traditional human broker rather than using computer systems with limited interpretation of facts.
So seems to me hat would be their best course of action. The letter will either be ignored or get a very wooly reply and they will probably be fobbed off after a while.

So my advice would be to either use other computer systems or use a traditional broker. The letter is unlikely to be effective IMO and they will just say they are entitled to discriminate on risk grounds.

Don't know the nature of your disability but if you can't work at all I suspect you do less driving that someone who commutes so you might statistically be more at risk. I'm not saying your a bad driver as an individual just that the statistics show these things.
Unemployed people often tend to do lower miles than commuters and you are lumped in with that group.

Oscar_The_Grouch

LZL03 wrote: »

A letter of complaint is being sent direct to Justin King via Sainsbury's Internal mail system.

I sincerely hope your e-mail will not pay the "disability card"; nothing makes me angrier than minorities feeling they are being discriminated against - and before you accuse me of discrimination, I'm also disabled.

I take it you haven't considered your wife's career at all here - how do you think an internal e-mail of complaint will be viewed?

"unemployed" means someone who is out of work and actively searching for employment. From what I can read of your post, you are not unemployed; you are a homemaker (used to be called housewife or househusband until they decided to get more "PC") who undertakes household duties - even if those duties are solely to sign for registered delivery post!!

Don't blame Sainsbury's for the fact that you can't fill in a form correctly.

lisyloo

So is it discrimination when younger drivers are quoted £6,000 to insure a car but old fogeys like me can insure more powerful cars for £450?

Yes it is discrimination on risk grounds which is perfectly legal and justifiable.

If you were promoting someone for a job, would you discrimate in favour of the better candidate? Of course you would.
I think the word is being misused here.
Discrimination happens all the time. Most of it is legal and justifiable.
In employment peopel are disriminated for and against on a merit basis ALL the time.

What is illegal is discrimination PURELY on the grounds of gender, race, disability, secual orientation etc.

Insurers are not doing that.
They are discrimnating on the basis of RISK and not purely the factors above.

dacouch

hermanmunster wrote: »

Just put Househusband instead - never had any trouble with this when applying for things.

Was tempted by "living on own means" when filling in a form the other day LOL!

Living by own means tends to be a decline or a loaded premium with most insurers, this is because this includes lovely people such as Paris Hilton who are living on trust funds.