Purpose of Report
This report examines the implications of implementing, within the insurance and related financial services sectors, Council Directive 2004/113/EC on equal treatment of men and women in access to and supply of goods and services.
The Directive
The directive outlaws gender discrimination in the provision of goods and services, including in the provision of insurance and related financial services. However, the directive permits member states to allow proportionate differences in individuals’ premiums and benefits where gender is a determining factor in the assessment of risk. A member state wishing to permit such differences must notify the Commission of the permitted exemptions before December 2007. Member states must also ensure that accurate data, relevant to the use of gender as a determining factor, are complied, published and regularly updated.
Recommendations
The report recommends:
- That Ireland permit proportionate differences in premiums and benefits on the basis of gender in the life assurance and motor insurance business.
- That subject to legal advice, the application of the directive to pregnancy and maternity exclusions in insurance be deferred until 2009. This is to permit further study and analysis, particularly as regards critical illness cover and travel insurance.
- That statistical and actuarial data on mortality, life expectancy, morbidity and on road traffic accidents be compiled, published and updated and that these definitive data be put in place by December 2007.
- That the task of compiling, publishing and updating data is best assigned to the Financial Regulator.
- That the review after five years of the decision to permit differences on the basis of gender, which the directive requires, be carried out under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.