MEPs have voted in support of a directive which will impact on the ability of insurers to use gender as a basis for determining premiums.
The directive to introduce equality between women and men in the provision of goods and services was adopted by 313 votes, with 141 MEPs voting against the measure and 47 abstentions.
Norwich Union said it was disappointed that MEPs had not voted in support of an amendment to the directive in relation to insurance.
“The use of gender in the calculation of insurance premiums is not discrimination but a fair recognition of objective risk; premium differences between the sexes are based on actuarial statistics and actual claims experiences,” said the company in a statement.
“Forcing insurers to ignore gender when pricing risk would mean introducing an unfair element of cross-subsidy into the provision of insurance services. This could have negative consequences for consumers, by increasing the cost of insurance for everyone.
It said it believed the directive should be amended to allow gender to continue to be used as a factor in underwriting decisions. NU will lobby the UK government until 1 June when the European Council will discuss the directive.
