The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has called for laws to be altered in order to prevent insurers from offering men and women different rates unless they have accurate and recent data.
The Pensions Policy Institute recently completed an analysis of annuity rates and concluded that the introduction of unisex rates would not be of significant benefit.
The analysis found that better advice and guidance to help purchasers choose the best options might be of more use than compulsory unisex rates.
Currently, insurers are allowed to set different rates for men and women. However, a Directive being debated in Europe would ban insurers from using gender-based data when calculating insurance and annuity rates.
EOC chair Julie Mellor said: “The current law on sex discrimination and insurance is far too vague.
“We want measures put in place so that insurers can treat men and women differently only if they can demonstrate differences in risks that can only be explained by gender”
