[QUOTE]Insurers cannot charge different premiums to men and women because of their gender, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.
The decision means that women can no longer be charged lower car insurance premiums than men, and the cost of buying a pensions annuity will change.
The change will come into effect in December 2012, although customers could see premiums alter in the interim.
Representatives of the insurance industry said they were disappointed.
The court was ruling on a challenge by a Belgian consumer group Test-Achats.
It had argued that a current exemption for insurers contradicted the wider European principle of gender equality.
"Taking the gender of the insured individual into account as a risk factor in insurance contracts constitutes discrimination," the ECJ said.
The requirement for unisex insurance premiums and benefits will start on 21 December 2012, giving national governments and the European insurance industry time to adjust.
Different risks
Simon Douglas of AA Insurance said insurance prices for young drivers could rise
For car insurance, women are generally a lower risk to insure than men but will, in due course, have to pay the same premiums.
The British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) said currently the cost of the average car claim by an 18-year old man was £4,400, while that for an 18-year old woman was £2,700.
"The ruling will have a significant effect on the insurance industry which has used the system of risk based pricing to award discounts to lower risk drivers like young females who are statistically safer drivers," said Graeme Trudgill of BIBA.
"The industry will have to change its model and effectively females will now pay a cross subsidy for males on their insurance premiums."
Simon Douglas of AA Insurance told BBC News that the decision could add about £400 to the annual cost of car insurance for a young woman.
"Particularly for women under 30 where the difference is most extreme, they currently pay about half what a man would pay," he said.
"We could see their prices go up 25-30% and men's premiums could fall by about 10%."
Maggie Craig, acting director general of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said: "This gender ban is disappointing news for UK consumers and something the UK insurance industry has fought against for the last decade.
"The judgment ignores the fact that taking a person's gender into account, where relevant to the risk, enables men and women alike to get a more accurate price for their insurance."[/QUOTE]
FINALLY. Shame it starts in 2012 though.
Now they just need to stop them charging so much for younger drivers, sure a little more but not £3000 more.
Source: [URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12606610[/URL]
It also mentions pensions but nobody cares about them.
[IMG]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Money/Pix/pictures/2011/2/18/1298042602901/Insurance-and-pensions-Pa-007.jpg[/IMG]
Found this image on the guardian and thought it was hilarious.
Good. Any steps towards equality are good.
This is great news, last year I was trying to get insurance when I started driving, some companies wanted £6000 .... if I had been a girl the price would have been £1.7K. I guess I could have gotten a sex change and still had money left over but waiting a couple of years until after Uni seemed more appropriate.
But women are safer drivers. It makes sense for them to pay less for insurance. And now men get less for their pensions annuity to make it less sexist, despite the fact that women receive less per year because they live longer.
Ridiculous.
[QUOTE=Capitulazyguy;28370283]But women are safer drivers. It makes sense for them to pay less for insurance. And now men get less for their pensions annuity to make it less sexist, despite the fact that women receive less per year because they live longer.
Ridiculous.[/QUOTE]
You're probably trolling but..
You just said that [b]ALL[/b] women [b]are[/b] safer drivers. Which is factually untrue. You, and everyone bitching against this just don't get that - why?
[QUOTE=AngryChairR;28370426]You're probably trolling but..
You just said that [b]ALL[/b] women [b]are[/b] safer drivers. Which is factually untrue. You, and everyone bitching against this just don't get that - why?[/QUOTE]
It's averages, like everything insurance companies do.
Since the point of insurance is to average out the costs of the insured problems, shouldn't everyone have the same rates, regardless of who they are or anything about them?
No, because then you have careful drivers paying for boy racing dickheads who go screaming down A roads at 100mph.
From what I've heard this is likely, at best, to decrease the rate insurance premiums go up for men. It also has no effect on how insurance companies can charge people based on their age.
[QUOTE=Capitulazyguy;28370667]No, because then you have careful drivers paying for boy racing dickheads who go screaming down A roads at 100mph.[/QUOTE]
You should start at one fixed insurance premium, regardless of gender or age. It should go up if you get many speeding tickets/accidents caused by you.
[QUOTE=AngryChairR;28370426]You're probably trolling but..
You just said that [b]ALL[/b] women [b]are[/b] safer drivers. Which is factually untrue. You, and everyone bitching against this just don't get that - why?[/QUOTE]
It's called statistics. Statistically women are safer drivers, so they pay less for their insurance. This is PC gone too far and it only serves to make insurance companies more money.
The point of insurance is that the cost is extremely discriminatory - based on risk factors and statistics. If members of a certain gender are less careful drivers, why not discriminate?
What about Hermaphrodites?
[QUOTE=smallfry;28370810]The point of insurance is that the cost is extremely discriminatory - based on risk factors and statistics. If members of a certain gender are less careful drivers, why not discriminate?[/QUOTE]
Just because I was born with a dick, I should be forced to pay more?
That doesn't sound wrong to you?
Personally I'm all far equalizing insurance rates. You shouldn't be discriminated against because of something you can't control (short of a sex change). I'm all for pitching up rates for unsafe drivers, but we shouldn't be pigeon-holed into something we never justified being shoved into.
[QUOTE=Gizmodo456;28368742]This is great news, last year I was trying to get insurance when I started driving, some companies wanted £6000 .... if I had been a girl the price would have been £1.7K. I guess I could have gotten a sex change and still had money left over but waiting a couple of years until after Uni seemed more appropriate.[/QUOTE]
I mean, look at this. This is bullshit in my opinion. A piece of meat in between your legs shouldn't be a sole determining factor in a four-thousand pound/dollar/whatever difference.
I bet you guys would be bitching if you had to pay more if you had brown hair as opposed to blond hair, so I'm not sure why you guys would ever be cheering paying more for being a guy than being a chick. I mean I understand it's a statistical safety game for insurance companies, but still. I hope I'm not alone when I say I would like to consider myself more than just a statistic.
[QUOTE=Gmod4ever;28371034]Just because I was born with a dick, I should be forced to pay more?
That doesn't sound wrong to you?
Personally I'm all far equalizing insurance rates. You shouldn't be discriminated against because of something you can't control (short of a sex change). I'm all for pitching up rates for unsafe drivers, but we shouldn't be pigeon-holed into something we never justified being shoved into.[/QUOTE]
But they're just going to put the prices up for women. So women get charged more because [B]statistically[/B] men are worse drivers. Is it then more fair that everyone is overcharged and the insurance companies make even more money?
[QUOTE=Xera;28371129]But they're just going to put the prices up for women. So women get charged more because [B]statistically[/B] men are worse drivers. Is it then more fair that everyone is overcharged and the insurance companies make even more money?[/QUOTE]
God forbid the genders are equalized. Would you prefer if all rates were dropped down to women, causing the companies to make significantly less money and causing an untold amount of people to lose their jobs? Would [b]that[/b] make you feel better?
There has to be some sort of happy medium. Note that men have to pay less while women pay more. That's lessening the gap, therefore equalizing the genders. The companies probably end up making approximately the same amount of money, because 25% of 1000 is a hell of a lot less than 10% of 6000.
Even if the companies do end up making a bit more money, there's simply no way around it.
[b]NOT TO MENTION[/b] taking your logic: Currently men get charged more because [b]statistically[/b] they are worse drivers. Is that fair? By that logic, blacks and Hispanics are [b]statistically[/b] more likely to commit a crime. Does that justify having cops trail every black or Hispanic person walking down the street?
God forbid an insurance company not make money.
[QUOTE=Xera;28371129]But they're just going to put the prices up for women. So women get charged more because [B]statistically[/B] men are worse drivers. Is it then more fair that everyone is overcharged and the insurance companies make even more money?[/QUOTE]
Discrimination is okay because I have science on my side.
nooo I was hoping this was happening in the USA. fucking shit.
anyone against this ask yourself if this would be okay:
black people are charged more than white people because of statistics
that would never fly because it is clearly discriminating.
Good, now I won't have to see those fucking Shiela's Wheels ads anymore.
[QUOTE=Janus Vesta;28372318]Good, now I won't have to see those fucking Shiela's Wheels ads anymore.[/QUOTE]
My thoughts exactly.
I have to admit, I find it quite amusing to consider that if an insurance company purely for men had been made, there would have been a massive outcry.
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