The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned that EU proposals to remove gender discrimination will increase the costs of insurance protection for women and make them poorer in retirement.
In simple terms, currently Women pay less than men for life insurance protection because women generally live longer.
Women pay more than men for health insurance protection because women have more complex bodies than men that go wrong more frequently
Women get a smaller pension than men for the same lump sum because the pension company may have to pay the income for longer (as women live longer).
The ABI argues that equalising rates will mean that women have to pay more for motor insurance and insurance, which means they will have less to save for their future.
Our view
The EU stance is a joke. Any contract of insurance, be it Motor, House or Life Insurance, has premiums set based upon the risk of a valid claim. If a certain woman is less likely to die in the next 10 years, why should she pay the same a an equivalent man, likewise, why should she pay the same for health insurance than a man when she is more likely to claim.
This stance is EU beaurocracy gone made.