What is the gender directive
The European Court of Justice’s ruling on the gender directive
On 1 March 2011 The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that from 21 December 2012, insurance companies won’t be able to charge people different amounts based on gender. This means women could pay up to 15% more for their life cover.
The current situation
When it comes to the cost of insurance, you could say that women have had an easier time of it than men. But not for much longer.
The law already states that businesses can't set different prices based on gender, but so far insurers have been given an opt-out from this legislation, provided they could show that differences in prices were based on statistical evidence – such as the fact that women are expected to live longer than men. A Belgian consumer group challenged the legality of the difference in pricing for insurance products, and the ECJ ruled that it was unlawful, so a change to the existing gender directive legislation was agreed, and that comes into effect on 21 December this year.
