Car rental ageism

tradeoff

If I went into a shop and the management refused to serve me because I was black, gay or Jewish there would be an outcry - because that is against the law. So why am I refused service by a Rental Car company purely because of my age? I am as fit as a butchers dog and have a medical report to prove it. My eyesight is perfect. I haven't had an accident in 30 years. I've been driving for 50 years and obtained insurance and a driving licence without any problems. But because certain UK Car Rental companies have an age limit of 70 or 75, then my age of 76 prevents me hireing a car. This surely is ageism and actually bad business. We are one of the insurance categories with the lowest risk. 

DullGreyGuy

Afraid statistics dont back up your statement, once you've hit 70 the rate of claims start to rise again; never gets back to where it was when you were 17 but its effectively a U shaped curve. 

Discrimination by definition is unjust treatment not simply differentiating based on a characteristic. There is no evidence I've ever seen on race being a factor on car accidents but age certainly is and as such it's not unjust. 

It's a commercial decision, they buy insurance to cover people of a certain age range. 17 year olds will equally find it very difficult to hire anything but the most basic car.

If you deal with a smaller firm you may be able to come to arrangements especially if you are talking about a UK hire where you could add the vehicle to your own insurance as a temporary additional vehicle

zagfles

DullGreyGuy said:

Afraid statistics dont back up your statement, once you've hit 70 the rate of claims start to rise again; never gets back to where it was when you were 17 but its effectively a U shaped curve. 

Discrimination by definition is unjust treatment not simply differentiating based on a characteristic. There is no evidence I've ever seen on race being a factor on car accidents but age certainly is and as such it's not unjust. 

It's a commercial decision, they buy insurance to cover people of a certain age range. 17 year olds will equally find it very difficult to hire anything but the most basic car.

If you deal with a smaller firm you may be able to come to arrangements especially if you are talking about a UK hire where you could add the vehicle to your own insurance as a temporary additional vehicle

This is rubbish, discrimination is still discrimination whether or not the characteristic is a factor in claims. Gender is definitely a factor in car accidents yet insurers can't offer different rates to men and women because gender discrimination is illegal. 

Age is a factor too, the difference is age discrimination is legal in a lot of contexts including insurance. Younger drivers also have a harder time hiring a car or may have to pay more. 

tradeoff

Thanks for your comments and as with most points of view, there are two sides to an argument. However, as you get older you find there are multiple sides to an argument and it is very rarely black and white. Driving insurance is a case in point. The problem lies with the system of insurance. It is based on statistics which have no relevance to the individual but rather the profits of the insurance companies - which are huge. They really don't like paying out and because of this rather unpleasant greediness an old man can't rent a car for a little bit of happiness in the Autumn of his life . . .

DullGreyGuy

zagfles said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Afraid statistics dont back up your statement, once you've hit 70 the rate of claims start to rise again; never gets back to where it was when you were 17 but its effectively a U shaped curve. 

Discrimination by definition is unjust treatment not simply differentiating based on a characteristic. There is no evidence I've ever seen on race being a factor on car accidents but age certainly is and as such it's not unjust. 

It's a commercial decision, they buy insurance to cover people of a certain age range. 17 year olds will equally find it very difficult to hire anything but the most basic car.

If you deal with a smaller firm you may be able to come to arrangements especially if you are talking about a UK hire where you could add the vehicle to your own insurance as a temporary additional vehicle

This is rubbish, discrimination is still discrimination whether or not the characteristic is a factor in claims. Gender is definitely a factor in car accidents yet insurers can't offer different rates to men and women because gender discrimination is illegal. 

Age is a factor too, the difference is age discrimination is legal in a lot of contexts including insurance. Younger drivers also have a harder time hiring a car or may have to pay more. 

Think you need to go read your legislation and a dictionary @zagles

Gender is outlawed explicitly due to EU legislation, "discrimination" to use your understanding is otherwise common place in insurance with Age being a key rating factor hence all young drivers pay far more in premiums but it can be statistically backed up

zagfles

DullGreyGuy said:

zagfles said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Afraid statistics dont back up your statement, once you've hit 70 the rate of claims start to rise again; never gets back to where it was when you were 17 but its effectively a U shaped curve. 

Discrimination by definition is unjust treatment not simply differentiating based on a characteristic. There is no evidence I've ever seen on race being a factor on car accidents but age certainly is and as such it's not unjust. 

It's a commercial decision, they buy insurance to cover people of a certain age range. 17 year olds will equally find it very difficult to hire anything but the most basic car.

If you deal with a smaller firm you may be able to come to arrangements especially if you are talking about a UK hire where you could add the vehicle to your own insurance as a temporary additional vehicle

This is rubbish, discrimination is still discrimination whether or not the characteristic is a factor in claims. Gender is definitely a factor in car accidents yet insurers can't offer different rates to men and women because gender discrimination is illegal. 

Age is a factor too, the difference is age discrimination is legal in a lot of contexts including insurance. Younger drivers also have a harder time hiring a car or may have to pay more. 

Think you need to go read your legislation and a dictionary @zagles

Gender is outlawed explicitly due to EU legislation, "discrimination" to use your understanding is otherwise common place in insurance with Age being a key rating factor hence all young drivers pay far more in premiums but it can be statistically backed up

Gender is not outlawed, that would be ridiculous  Did you mean "gender discrimination" is outlawed? That would rather contradict your point 

Here's an example from the CAB:

Insurance services - when discrimination is allowed - Citizens Advice
"Generally speaking insurance providers aren't allowed to discriminate against you. But sometimes it's lawful for an insurance provider to discriminate against you because of your age or if you're disabled."

"Discriminate", ie treat differently. As in the dictionary

DISCRIMINATION Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
"noun

1. an act or instance of discriminating, or of making a distinction.

2. treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit