Insurers could split into male and female providers

On 1 March, the ECJ found the use of gender as a factor in pricing annuities and insurance products discriminatory. Insurers must now equalise rates by 21 December 2012. Alan Carey, regional director of actuarial services at Alexander Forbes Financial Services, warns the move could lead to a split in the market, creating separate providers for male and female customers. "You can get around this by asking certain questions, rather than asking if a client is male or female," Carey says, and uses questions about pregnancy as an example. Though it is illegal for a company to refuse acc...