German Insurers: Unisex Rates Would Collide With German Law
01 October 2010 - 1:11AM
Dow Jones News
German insurance companies like Ergo Versicherungsgruppe AG
(EVG2.XE) and Allianz SE (ALV.XE) said Thursday the European
Union's Advocate General's opinion that insurers can't link a
person's gender to premium calculations would be in conflict with
German laws, should it be implemented.
Ergo, the primary insurer of reinsurer Munich Re AG (MUV2.XE),
said "EU anti-discrimination law allows for well-founded exceptions
when it comes to insurance products while German law actually
demands differentiation as women are more expensive to insure than
men."
Allianz said in a statement that prescribing unisex rates would
be an infringement on German law. "Differentiation is not
discriminatory," but fairly used by insurers as a basis for their
calculations, Allianz added.
The German Insurance Association, the umbrella organisation for
private insurers in Germany, noted that the Advocate General's
comments are only a legal opinion, and not a ruling.
-By Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 500;
djnews.frankfurt@dowjones.com