News & Views

Total Discrimination

The European Court Of Justice will deliver next week its final written judgement in a case which may see the end of gender pricing differentials for life insurance premiums. But we’re not singing  with joy.

The intial adjudication back in September 2010 confirmed that differential pricing contravenes the fundamental principle of equal treatment on the basis of gender. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, for the ongoing  fight against discrimination has been one of the key political and social markers of recent years. But do we really care as much as we say we do?

At Moneysworth we are committed to helping people with health issues find life cover. The life cover isnt for them personally, it never is, it’s to protect their families and their children. Many of the people who come to us looking for our help have been previously turned away and rejected. Furthermore, given that most will have to pay higher premiums (discrimination) due to their health, we strive to look for the best available terms, so that they pay the least extra amount possible.

Thank goodness, using our specialist knowledge of the insurance market, we are able to obtain cover for the majority of clients who come to us. Indeed it is pretty much the case that if we are unable to find cover, customers are unlikely to find it elsewhere. As our blog develops we hope to provide an insight into our work and some of the many cases that we work on.

But today, I would like to pause and spend a brief moment to think about the people that are unable to obtain cover.

Insurance companies set premium levels in line with the amount of risk that they perceive to be present. But if the risk is too great they can choose not to offer cover.

What then for the families who happen to have a father or a mother with a health condition considered so  serious that no insurance company will touch them? Not only do they face the chance of losing a parent at an early age, but also of being left with little or no financial support. 

So before we start patting ourselves on our backs and congratulating ourselves on our progress in steadily eradicating the curse of discriminition from modern society lets remember just one group who remain firmly on the outside and who remain totally discriminated against.

Its not that next weeks ruling isn’t important, its not even that its not fair. Its that a much greater unfairness will remain after next week.

Andy Wilkinson