This week's final decision from the ECJ to accept the preliminary opinion of its Advocate General, Juliane Kokott, on ending the opt-out insurance has from the relevant European non-discrimination directives is not a surprise.
We knew last October this was very likely to be the outcome and that probably accounts for why much of the reaction from the insurance industry seems more like resigned indignation rather than outright horror. Indeed, it has been coming for the best part of a quarter of a century since the old Equal Opportunities Commission took Friends Provident to court over the higher premiums charged to women for medical and income replacement insurance. The decision is a mixed bag. It is easy to why the strongest reaction has come from the life assurance and retirement planning sectors because th...
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