EC backs down on insurance "equality hike"

Monday, 3 January 2005 12:00 AM

A proposal that would have made most women drivers pay more car insurance has been abandoned by the European Commission.

The EU Gender Directive would have prevented firms offering cheaper insurance to women, but a deal has now been reached allowing insurers to take gender into account when pricing premiums.

Insurance companies currently offer different rates for cover based on gender and with male drivers responsible for 85 per cent of serious motoring offences, most women usually pay less.

Commenting on the new agreement, Deputy Minister for Women and Equality Jacqui Smith said: "The rights we've enjoyed in the UK for nearly 30 years will now be enshrined in this directive for the benefit of all Europeans."

"This achievement shows how Europe can develop solutions that are good for us all. It's good news on insurance, but this directive covers much more than that. "

As well as insurance, the new EU legislation will ensure equal treatment in a range of other goods and services including banking, pensions and housing.

Ms Smith added that the new rules would prevent mortgage companies discriminating against pregnant women who are seeking to buy a property and allow married women to gain credit without a requirement for their husbands to act as guarantors.

The directive is expected to come into effect in around three years, although sex discrimination is currently illegal in the UK under the terms of the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act.

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