MSE News: EU ruling could throw insurance pricing into chaos

Percy1983

lisyloo wrote: »

Unfortunately you'll get less money from your pension (speculation of course), as you won't be assumed to have the shorter life span of those with your physical form, when making actuarial calculations.

True, but the amount I could save on insurance over my lifetime could boost my pension.

But I do agree on the other side, not all women live longer than all men so it should be equal again.

I am against discrimination going both ways so welcome this.

dacouch

Some years ago the Disability Discrimination Act was introduced and applied to Motor Insurers, prior to the act Insurers did as they normally do which is to price for different conditions based on their own statistically data. This could (and did) mean some Insurers would decline diabetics, some would accept diet controlled diabetics only and some would accept diabetics providing there were no glucemic attacks within three years.

The new law meant they could not discriminate against disabilities unless the INSURERS OWN statistical data proved they were more likely to have a claim. This in effect meant most Insurers now accept all disabilities without loading although some have built up a database and load some disabilities. To some extent the additional risk of some disabilities will have been shared out amongst all of the policyholders

How the not discriminating based on sex will pan out remains to be seen

Meatballs

IMO refusing insurance is discrimination, but having a statistically apportioned cost isn't discriminition, it's probability?

That or they have to normalize insurance for everyone...

CFC

Yet more EU 'ideology driven' statism. Ludicrous!

Trunk_z

Reading a lot of the comments here regarding the: men have more accidents statements.

I was under the impression that it is not the number of accidents, but the COST of these accidents.

For example, women may be more likely to hit a post or just have a scrape, whereas men are more likely to write off several cars in a pileup.

JimmyTheWig

Absinthe_Fairy wrote: »

Why are the EU looking at gender in particular? If insurance is assessed on risk, why not assess gender as well as age etc? Surely making younger people pay higher driving insurance premiums is discrimination too, of a different kind? Why should that be any more acceptable than discriminating by gender?

I don't think that making younger people pay more is the same, here, as the young people will become old people and then will pay less.

lisyloo

Reading a lot of the comments here regarding the: men have more accidents statements.
I was under the impression that it is not the number of accidents, but the COST of these accidents.
For example, women may be more likely to hit a post or just have a scrape, whereas men are more likely to write off several cars in a pileup.

You are absolutely correct.

I don't think anyone has actually said men have more accidents and I think cynicalScotsmas was definitely pulling our leg in post #3.

There are definitely differences in life expectancy (higher for women) and definitely differences in the cost of healthcare (higher for women). So this affects a whole range of insurance from motor, health, life and pensions.

KevinG

Utter madness. They'll be outlawing age discrimination for life assurance next!

robbies_gal

oh great as if car insurance wasnt enough as it is men getting cheaper deals will means womens will go up

Percy1983

KevinG wrote: »

Utter madness. They'll be outlawing age discrimination for life assurance next!

You age as a direct relation to how long you have left to live.

You gender has no relation on your ability to drive.

As with age descimination in car insurance I do have a problem there, I remember whem I passed my test one of my mums friends passed around the same time. Yet she got a bigger on expensive car and got insurance for a 3rd of what I did. Now where any of us proven good or bad drivers at that point? so surely we deserve the same treatment.

Similar to my arguement of of sex descrimination, sharingthe same age as other people does not make me the same as other people of my age.

So I don't disagree that people with more years driving experience/NCB should get cheaper deals, but right now all young males are guilty until proven innocent.