The insurance industry condemned a landmark European court
ruling that insurers cannot charge different premiums to men
and women because of their gender. The ECJ 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. In its ruling, the ECJ said, “Taking the gender of the
insured individual into account as a risk factor in insurance contracts
constitutes discrimination.” The ECJ upheld the opinion
of its top adviser and said that singling out women for preferential
treatment contravenes article eight of the EU treaty. EU
justice commissioner Viviane Reding welcomed the ruling as “an
important step towards putting the fundamental right of gender
equality into practice,” and said she would convene a meeting
with insurers in the coming months to discuss its implications.
However UK Conservative deputies branding the ruling as ‘a
setback for common sense’. Martin Callanan, described the
ruling as “nonsense”. He said women now faced “devastating
hikes in already sky-high motoring bills”. Commenting on the
media attention given to the changes in rates for car insurance,
European Women’s Lobby vice president Jachanova Dolezelova
denied that there would necessarily be a negative impact on
women’s premiums in the long run, noting that premiums based
on the objective criteria of past involvement in accidents would
continue to reward safe drivers.
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