Pensioner wins insurance discrimination case

INSURANCE companies can no longer refuse quotations because of a person’s age alone.

In a landmark decision yesterday, the Equality Tribunal decided a 77-year-old man was discriminated against when he was refused a motor insurance quote.

Jim Ross, from Ranelagh, Dublin, who was refused an insurance quotation in 2001 by Royal and SunAlliance, was found to have been discriminated against on age grounds under the Equal Status Act 2000.

The equality officer found Royal and SunAlliance's across-the-board policy of refusing quotations to persons over 70 years of age was unacceptable and awarded Mr Ross 2,000. When Mr Ross, a retired life assurance agent, sought the quotation, he had a seven years' no-claims bonus.

He wrote to the Equality Authority complaining that he had been discriminated against because he was too old.

Mr Ross, who celebrated his 80th birthday last July, said he was delighted with the ruling. The Equality Authority represented Mr Ross, who is now happily insured with another company and still driving.

"The key message of this case is it is not acceptable to refuse a quotation based solely on a person's age with no account taken of the person's circumstances, such as driving history," said Niall Crowley, the authority's chief executive.

Mr Crowley said age limits in the provision of insurance were all too common and insurance companies would now have to review any existing practices where an individual was refused a quotation simply on grounds of age.

Royal and SunAlliance said it was disappointed with the outcome but fully accepted the ruling and was changing its motor quotation policy accordingly.

The company said almost 20% of its motoring clientele were in the older age bracket significantly more than the market average.

It was important to note, however, that its analysis showed that while older people had a lower accident frequency, primarily because they drove less often, when an accident did happen the resulting claims for damage and/or personal injury was high.

Over the past couple of years 10 of its 40 largest motor claims related to drivers aged 71 or over.