Gay Couples No Longer Excluded By Insurers

Insurance companies are planning to abolish an exemption allowing them to treat gay couples differently to heterosexual couples, after the Association of British Insurers says there is no need for insurance providers to differentiate between those in a civil partnership and married couples when assessing premiums for life insurance and other protection products.

Since the laws changed in Britain to permit gay couples to wed in civil partnerships, it seems at odds with this if insurers were to maintain their policy for married couples and yet exclude same sex partnerships. The majority of insurers already practice equality in their assessment of policies in this instance, however, all insurance companies will have to toe the line when it comes to equal treatment by the summer of 2009. The ABI affirms that the insurance industry as a whole is united against discrimination and in support of treating people fairly, and it feels that it is only right that this should be reflected in their policies.

When it comes to making an assessment for allocating a policy to an individual, then the factors that an insurer will take into consideration, in terms of differentiation between clients, are those such as age or gender. Insurance companies endeavour to base their treatment of all customers on a fair and objective analysis of the risks they represent, both for themselves and in society in general. For instance, if a young child is diagnosed with epilepsy, which could lead to possible fits while in a public area, the insurer will need to make sure that they have allocated adequate cover that could protect the child and his or her family from any residual effects of this episode. Moreover, an elderly person, who requires daily nursing and is very frail, thus posing more of a liability to an insurance company than a younger healthy individual, will need a different policy with coverage for hospital bills and medication.

Nevertheless, insurance companies will not seek an exemption where there is no real need for one, and in this sense, there is no real need to apply an exemption or for the law to provide different treatment when it comes to both civil partnerships and marriages. They are essentially the same union, but with differing principles and beliefs both of which are valid and recognised in the UK. A spokesman for Stonewall Equality Limited, a charitable organisation dedicated to challenging society’s perception of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals within the wider community, affirmed its support of the ABI’s proposal to abolish this exemption in insurance law. Stonewall has been active in working to ensure that laws passed for equality serve to protect lesbians and gay men, and others marginalised in society, in terms of goods and services. However, Alan Wardle, director of public affairs at Stonewall, is certain that despite the fact that insurance premiums should be based on someone’s behaviour and not their sexual orientation, he still feels that the Government will find a way to withdraw the proposed change at the earliest opportunity.