RSA boss Brown slams gender ruling

RSA chief executive Adrian Brown has slammed today's European Court of Justice ruling, calling it 'completely disadvantageous to the very people it was intended to protect.'

The ECJ ruling means insurers will no longer be able to discriminate pricing between male and females. It could see prices rise by up to 50% for some female drivers.

Brown said: "Today's judgement flies in the face of common sense. It is completely disadvantageous to the very people it was intended to protect and prevents insurers from using a legitimate rating factor.

"Once again consumers are going to have to pay the price for an illogical change in the law. I would urge the Government to make the case for honest drivers who are already suffering because of the rising price of petrol and the growing compensation culture."

Meanwhile, moneysupermarket.com insurance expert, Julie Owens, said the decision will be "detrimental to UK consumers".

“With the European Court of Justice ruling that discriminating by gender will be deemed unlawful when calculating insurance premiums, effective from December 2012, we will now see a fundamental and significant change to the UK insurance market," said.

"This move will be detrimental to UK consumers, and in the case of car insurance, premiums for female drivers will certainly increase sharply as a result. In addition, with record price increases to car insurance premiums, the ruling means it is likely many more motorists will be forced off the road, or even worse, be more tempted to drive without any cover at all."

She added: "The ruling will no doubt hit female drivers the hardest. Although the ruling doesn’t come into force until December 2012 it is likely we will see a convergence in pricing over the next 18 months."