The Equal Treatment in Goods and Services Directive 2004 (2004/113/EC) of 13 December 2004 is a directive which prohibits both direct and indirect sexual discrimination in the provision of goods and services in the European Union.
The Equal Treatment in Goods and Services Directive 2004 (2004/113/EC) of 13 December 2004 is a directive which prohibits both direct and indirect sexual discrimination in the provision of goods and services in the European Union.
As originally enacted Article 5(2) of the directive allowed member states to permit sexual discrimination in the provision of insurance services for renewal periods of five years. However, in Test-Achats ASBL v Conseil des ministres , the European Court of Justice invalidated this provision on the basis that it potentially permitted the indefinite continuance of discrimination in the provision of insurance contrary to Articles 21 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
According to Article 5(1) of Directive 2004/113/EC, member states must ensure that "the use of sex as a factor in the calculation of premiums and benefits for the purposes of insurance and related financial services shall not result in differences in individuals' premiums and benefits".
However, initially insurers could use Article 5(2) as an opt-out clause, allowing them to decide whether or not to use gender as a determining factor when assessing risk, providing this decision was based on "relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data".
Using the car insurance industry as an example, statistically speaking, men are generally involved in a higher number of serious traffic accidents and make more expensive claims than women. As a result, insurers were justified in using this exemption when calculating the price of an applicant's policy. Therefore, women traditionally received cheaper car insurance quotes than their male counterparts.
On 1 March 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its judgement into the Test-Achats case. The ECJ agreed with Test-Achats, a Belgian consumer group, and ruled Article 5(2) was invalid. Consequently, insurers were no longer able to use gender as a risk factor when pricing policies.
Following the ruling, insurers had until 21 December 2012 to comply with this decision and begin selling gender neutral car insurance.
As of November 2012, no-one precisely knew how the ECJ's decision would impact the insurance industry. However, in the case of car insurance, many analysts expected the price of women's vehicle cover to substantially increase while men would see a slight reduction in the cost of their premiums. Although some believed the decision would lead to a fairer system, the Association of British Insurers opposed the decision.
Commenting on the matter in 2012, Director General Otto Thoresen stated, "Insurers and the UK Government fought for nearly a decade to retain the right to offer premiums and benefits priced as accurately as possible by considering risks linked to gender. But now that the battle is over, the industry is focused on preparing to give customers ‘gender-neutral’ rates that are as fair as possible." As of April 2015, UK journalists have suggested that, [1] but is now driven by career / profession declared within the insurance application. Six professions were selected as examples of (a) male dominated professions, (b) female dominated professions and (c) gender-neutral professions. Clear results show the higher insurance premiums were quoted for male dominated professions.
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Vehicle insurance is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injury resulting from traffic collisions and against liability that could also arise from incidents in a vehicle. Vehicle insurance may additionally offer financial protection against theft of the vehicle, and against damage to the vehicle sustained from events other than traffic collisions, such as keying, weather or natural disasters, and damage sustained by colliding with stationary objects. The specific terms of vehicle insurance vary with legal regulations in each region.
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United Kingdom employment equality law is a body of law which legislates against prejudice-based actions in the workplace. As an integral part of UK labour law it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because they have one of the "protected characteristics", which are, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, pregnancy and maternity, and sexual orientation. The primary legislation is the Equality Act 2010, which outlaws discrimination in access to education, public services, private goods and services, transport or premises in addition to employment. This follows three major European Union Directives, and is supplement by other Acts like the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Furthermore, discrimination on the grounds of work status, as a part-time worker, fixed term employee, agency worker or union membership is banned as a result of a combination of statutory instruments and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, again following European law. Disputes are typically resolved in the workplace in consultation with an employer or trade union, or with advice from a solicitor, ACAS or the Citizens Advice Bureau a claim may be brought in an employment tribunal. The Equality Act 2006 established the Equality and Human Rights Commission, a body designed to strengthen enforcement of equality laws.
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Chacón Navas v Eurest Colectividades SA (2006) C-13/05 is an EU labour law case that sets forth a uniform definition of disability in the European Union. Both the Treaty of Amsterdam and the EU Framework Directive on Employment left open the definition of disability, which allowed the Court to adopt its own definition.
Community rating is a concept usually associated with health insurance, which requires health insurance providers to offer health insurance policies within a given territory at the same price to all persons without medical underwriting, regardless of their health status.
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Legal protection insurance (LPI), also known as legal expenses insurance (LEI) or simply legal insurance, is a particular class of insurance which facilitates access to law and justice by providing legal advice and covering legal costs of a dispute, regardless of whether the case is brought by or against the policyholder. Depending on the national rules, legal protection insurers can also represent the policyholder out-of-court or even in-court.
Association belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats ASBL v Conseil des ministres (2011) C-236/09 is a decision of the European Court of Justice which invalidated a provision of Directive 2004/113/EC of the European Union which permitted the continence of sexual discrimination in the provision of insurance services provided that it was based on "relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data." The practical result of the decision was the prohibition of sexual discrimination in insurance policies.
P v S and Cornwall County Council was a landmark case of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which extended the scope of sex equality to discrimination against transsexuals.
Gender-based price discrimination is a form of economic discrimination that occurs when one gender is charged a different price than another gender for identical goods or services. Race and class-based price discrimination also exists. Acts of discrimination often have legal ramifications, but a study of gender-based price discrimination first looks at gendered price disparities. From there, the question of whether gendered price disparities prove an intent to discriminate or constitute illegal discrimination can become a legal inquiry that is developed by examining the law of the applicable jurisdiction. Gender-based price discrimination is typically disapproved of, but not universally. In the United States, a few states have adopted statutes forbidding gender-based price discrimination, but these policies are largely unenforced.