EC proposes ban on insurance premium discrimination

The European Commission has unveiled plans that would ban insurance companies from discrimination between the sexes when devising insurance premiums.

The controversial proposal would prevent insurance firms from giving cheaper premiums to either men or women on the basis of statistical data like life expectancy, driving records and other criteria.

The insurance industry is opposed to the plan, but Anna Diamantopoulou, the EU’s Commissioner for Social Affairs, said the new rules were a vital extension of existing sex discrimination laws currently only applied at work.