Equality is finally making it to the life insurance world

Thursday, February 25, 2010

It seems as though things just aren’t moving fast enough when it comes to equality in today’s world. Everyone seems to be in favour of equal rights but time and time again this is just not illustrated when it comes to equality within institutions in everyday life. This lag in the treatment of human beings certainly has not escaped the world of insurance. For years, gay couples in civil partnerships have been forced to pay more when it comes to their life insurance policies. Well, it seem as though, finally, there is a change in the pipeline.

A deal has been agreed upon between gay campaigners and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) that will allow insurers to treat gay couples in a civil partnership in the same way as married heterosexuals. This exception was one of the last financial hurdles to be scaled by the gay community and will finally allow them to avoid the higher premiums for life and critical illness insurance. The ABI released proposals that would finally end this exception and begin to stop differentiating between civil partnerships and marriages. Although, most companies already view these two situations the same, the time has come for all organizations to do this. With the extraction of this exception, it will make it easier for this to finally happen. This view of the ABI is clearly illustrated in a statement by the Director of General Insurance and Health in which he said, "In support of treating people fairly, the insurance industry is united against discrimination. Insurance companies base their treatment of all clients on an objective and fair analysis of the risks they represent."

This is seen as one of the last major hurdles to the gay community as far as life insurance goes and should ensure the fair treatment of persons no matter what their sexual orientation.


Danielle Jones