Ageas defends gender-based pricing promise
Company says guarantee ‘very unlikely’ to be investigated by courts
Ageas’s gender-based pricing promise is legally sound and does not aim to bypass the European Court of Justice(ECJ) ruling on the pricing of insurance policies, says head of marketing Andy Milburn.
The company defended its decision to guarantee gender-based pricing on applications submitted by midnight 20 December, saying that it is based on English law and contract law.
“The advice we received from our legal experts identified a means to offer a contract to customers who had applied for insurance before 21 December but where we were unable to confirm the cost of insurance and complete our usual contract process before that date,” Milburn said.
“This contract is limited to a small group of customers who would otherwise find themselves disadvantaged through no fault of their own. It is available to both genders for a very limited time window and therefore does not represent any ongoing means to subvert the ECJ intention.”
Doubt was cast on the price promise, which guarantees gender-based prices so long as the contract is completed before the end of February, following the Treasury’s response to the ECJ ruling.
The Treasury stated, “Insurers should not attempt to put in place artificial structures before 21 December to circumvent the impact of the ECJ judgment after this date.
“Any activity of this nature would clearly be contrary to the spirit of the judgment and is unlikely to be looked upon favourably by the European Commission or the courts.”
However, Milburn said because no individual customer will be disadvantaged by the price promise, it is “very unlikely” the courts would investigate.