Insurers could split into male and female providers

Life offices could split to create separate providers for men and women following the ECJ ruling banning the use of gender-pricing, an actuary says.

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 access to goods and services on the grounds of gender, Carey says providers can effectively sell to one sex by pricing their products for one gender out of the market.

He says whilst a company can offer life cover to both men and women, it could make its rates for male customers so expensive they will naturally look elsewhere, thereby maintaining its female client base and keeping its risk low.

Insurer Sheila's Wheels (pictured), which specialises in products for women, said after the ECJ ruling it can continue to operate as before. This is because the majority of its business is with female clients, which will keep risks low, but it does not bar men from its services.