ECJ ruling will affect insurance premiums
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) have said they found the judgment from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as “disappointing” after it decided to ban the use of gender in assessing risk in insurance policies.
The Association of British Insurers say that over the next 20 months insurers will need to make enormous changes to the underwriting of their policies. Insurance companies will need to make large scale changes including amending any affected policy documents, contacting customers with any new information and changing computer systems.
Insurance companies would need to ensure that brokers had the right pricing and make adjustments to insurance renewals as well as updating all sales material.
The ruling will mostly affect motor insurance and annuities. Motor insurance policies would not be able to cost more for a man and women under 25 could see an average rise of25% to their premium.
For annuities men who are approaching retirement age will see a reduction of 8% in annuity rates and women will see a rise of up to 6%. Women could see a rise of up to 20% for life insurance cover and men could see a fall of 10%.
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