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There would be all hell to pay if there was a 'Men Only' insurance scheme.

2006-10-14 12:09:06 · 20 answers · asked by Ah! 5 in Business & Finance Insurance

Are there any men only insurance companies then?

2006-10-15 23:30:20 · update #1

20 answers

"With a few exceptions, it is unlawful to discriminate directly or indirectly on grounds of sex in the provision of goods, facilities or services to the public, or a section of the public or in the disposal or management of premises. The main exceptions include:
- Discrimination by non-profit making voluntary bodies in restricting their membership to one sex or providing benefits to one sex only in accordance with their main object.
- Discrimination in the provision of facilities or services to avoid serious embarrassment to users which would be caused by the presence of members of the opposite sex."

The above quote is from the Equal Opportunities Commission. It is their summary of Part III of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. To me it shows that Women Only Insurance companes are breaking the law as men being insured do not cause "serious embarrassment" to women being insured.

2006-10-15 05:16:15 · answer #1 · answered by John T 2 · 0 0

The reason they can do this is that an Underwriter can set there own criteria on what risk they are prepared to accept.
You will often see on most insurance adverts, particularly motor and health in the UK 'subject to normal underwriting criteria'.
Now there is nothing to stop anyone of either gender approaching a specialist insurer but they will use 'underwriting criteria' to assess if the risk you present is insurable and if it is what the correct premium is.

Also they will have the upper hand because 'underwriting criteria' can be legitimately commercially sensitive information they have no obligation to provide this to the public.

Generally these companies will let you add a spouse as a named driver anyway and IAS policies are generally viewed a more preferable risk to IOD policies. IAS = Insured & Spouse, IOD = Insured only driver.

2006-10-15 10:53:06 · answer #2 · answered by jason12211 3 · 0 0

With great humour!
I am a male and have no reason to think I am being discriminated against by that particular Insurance Company. It is almost certain that if I were to telephone the company for a quote they would be pleased. I am sure my prospective custom would NOT be turned away and I would be offered a good fair insurance quote through them or a sister company.

2006-10-14 13:24:34 · answer #3 · answered by Whistler R 5 · 0 0

Insurance companies are exempt from a number of laws, discrimination on grounds of age is one of them, and so is the new age discrimination laws.

If they were not exempt Sheila's wheels would have to legally offer their policies to both men and women - however they could still provide a discount for women drivers, on actuarial grounds (ie. statistically they have fewere claims costs).

On the new age discrimination laws, without the exemption foir Insurance companies, all Insurers would have to offer a policy to every one of every age on every car (eg 17 year old driving a porsche) - but could rate the premium accordingly.

Please note that they are exempt from certain laws with regards to the products and policies they provide - They are not exempt as employers etc for breaches of sex discrimination in the workplace etc.
Hope this helps.

2006-10-16 02:21:22 · answer #4 · answered by canarian.frank 2 · 0 0

easy - sex discrimination applies to employment and the like. As a business I can sell to who the hell I like, its up to me. In the same way you wont get to sit down at the ritz in your T-shirt and jeans - thats not scruffy discrimination, its business sense to make sure you have clientelle who arent going to upset your regulars. Insurance companies offer cheaper car insurance if you are an experianced driver - thats not novice discrimination, it makes sense because they cost you less in the long run. Same with women Im afraid, they tend to have less accidents, so cost insurance companies less so get better deals - not sex discrimination, just better business sense.

and actually I think you will find that Shielas wheels (and diamond and all the others) offer men insurance as well, it just costs less if you are a woman.

and just to really throw things into the mix, they differentiate between jobs as well, Chefs have high car insurance because there is a proportional higher chance of them drinking..........

2006-10-17 03:58:10 · answer #5 · answered by alatoruk 5 · 0 0

Men and women ARE different. Actuaries collect data on rates of accidents, longevity, neighbourhoods, gender, and compute the risks.

Insurance is like gambling, predicting the future. The odds ARE stacked and can be justified by evidence. Women drivers are safer, so why should they subsidise the insurance premiums of men ?

Similarly, try to get insurance if you're 75. Who would take on that risk? Few, if any underwriters.

2006-10-14 13:42:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Its a joke isnt it? If the answers are correct, why arent there men only insurance companies?

And Simon D is talking out of his *rse. Ofcourse its discrimination.

2006-10-15 11:19:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I have no idea how they get round it.

You can have women only insurance, taxi firms, health clubs etc but women insist on being able to go into what used to be men only clubs.

It's getting so that the only people who can't have their own clubs, companies etc are white males

2006-10-14 12:15:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I don't think they could refuse you insurance if you are a man. However they can statistically prove the women have smaller accident claims and therefore are a lower risk and can have lower premiums. Although in general women will make more claims.

2006-10-14 12:16:28 · answer #9 · answered by Mark G 7 · 0 0

discrimination against men does not matter in the eyes of the law. just like discrimination against white people, Christian people, straight people, intelligent people does not "matter". This is political correctness gone quite mad. Discrimination laws should be banned.

Everyone is afraid of Muslims, so nobody is allowed to discriminate against them. Nobody cares about discriminating against white people anymore. People from majority groups are too afraid of standing up for their rights for fear of being branded racist/homophobic/sexist/elitist etc.

It is so irritating. I feel sorry for white, Christian, straight, intelligent males, as they will never win anything in an anti-discrimination case.

2006-10-14 12:16:25 · answer #10 · answered by Wing commander 3 · 2 0

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