The Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities adopted a consultative report by rapporteur Christa Prets for the gender neutrality directive that will force insurance and pension companies to treat men and women in the same way regardless of risk.
MEPs believe insurance premiums and pension contributions should not vary according to the gender of the customer and they welcome the fact that such practices will be radically changed by the new legislation. The committee proposed only minor changes to the directive, including shortening the transition period for implementation from six years to four.
The directive is aimed above all at the insurance and private pension industries. According to the latest research, private insurance companies often base their calculations on the gender of their customers. Since women statistically live longer than men, they constitute a 'risk group' in the eyes of insurers and so pay higher premiums. However, the reverse is true for car insurance. Statistics show that women have fewer road accidents than men: they therefore pay lower premiums.
The directive would stop insurers offering lower car premiums to women and also stop gender being used as a calculating factor of insurance premiums.
The consolidated report will be available soon.
© European Parliament
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