La decisíón del Tribunal de Justicia Europeo que se aplicará desde diciembre de 2012 supone una modificación sustancial para las compañias de seguros pues no podrán incorporar como factor del precio el genero.
1 de marzo 2011.
Esta decisión puede propiciar sucesivas normas que impidan tarificar por causas que puedan ser susceptibles de discriminación como la edad,discapacidad,genética...
El sector asegurador deberá explicar y justificar la necesidad de la utilización de estos factores.
Reproduzco el documento del CEA de día de hoy sobre este tema asunto.
José Miguel Rodríguez-Pardo del Castillo.
CEA regrets ECJ judgement on use of gender in insurance pricing
European Court of Justice ruling may have negative effect on consumers
Brussels, 1 March 2011: The CEA, the European insurance and reinsurance federation, is deeply disappointed by today’s judgement by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that the provision enabling EU insurers to use actuarial and statistical factors based on sex in their risk assessment is invalid from 21 December 2012.
“The decision of the judges not to recognise that gender is a legitimate factor in insurance pricing and that insurance pricing is based on a fair risk assessment process could be bad news for insurance customers,” said Michaela Koller, director general of the CEA.
“Insurers will consider this judgement carefully and will ensure that there is minimum disruption and impact for consumers,” said Koller. “Nevertheless, Europe-wide the effect on the price and benefits and on the choice of insurance products for consumers could be significant.”
The ECJ decision invalidates from 21 December 2012 the current derogation in EU law that allows for sex-specific differences in insurance premiums and benefits where sex is a determining risk factor.
The use of evidence-based statistics is indispensable in actuarial science, and gender has been proven to be one of the factors that has an obvious impact on the risks to be covered in such products as motor, term-life and health insurance and annuities.
Although insurers will ensure that their products remain as competitively priced as possible, some insurers will now face significant additional costs in reassessing data, transforming premiums and changing terms and conditions and marketing materials for certain products. From an actuarial point of view there is therefore good reason to believe that this judgement could ultimately have an impact on the prices insurers need to charge consumers.
While these would be purely commercial decisions for each individual insurer, increased premiums are to be expected for some groups, such as young women drivers, in markets where gender was previously used in motor insurance pricing.
Any increase in the cost and decrease in the choice of pension products could have a social impact on levels of retirement saving at a time when state pension schemes are already under financial pressure.
Adaptation will be challenging for the industry, especially for small and medium-sized insurers, within the short transition period of under two years.
The CEA is starting a thorough analysis of the possible effects of the judgement on both consumers and insurers.
The European Commission, for its part, now has to adapt the EU Gender Directive accordingly.
Link: CEA policy paper “The use of gender in insurance pricing”, February 2011
Background
European Union Directive 2004/113 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex in the access to and supply of goods and services. A derogation in the Directive allows EU member states to permit sex-specific differences in the calculation of insurance premiums and benefits where sex is a determining factor that can be substantiated by relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data.
Belgian consumer association Test-Achats and two private individuals brought an action before the Belgian Constitutional Court for annulment of a Belgian provision transposing the Directive. The Belgian Constitutional Court asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to rule on the compatibility of the derogation with the principle of equal treatment for men and women under European law.
An ECJ Advocate General issued a non-binding opinion on 30 September 2010 that concluded that the use of risk factors based on sex in connection with insurance premiums and benefits is incompatible with the principle of equal treatment. She recommended that the ECJ Court should declare the relevant derogating provision in EU Directive 2004/113 invalid.
http://www.cea.eu/uploads/Modules/Newsroom/110301%20ECJ%20ruling%20on%20gender-2.pdf
