Overview

A revolution in insurance pricing may be round the corner if, as expected, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) follows the opinion of AG Kokott (AG), delivered on 30 September 2010 in a preliminary reference from the Belgian courts, (Case C-236/09).

The AG has proposed that the ECJ declare unlawful the derogation in the Equal Treatment Directive (2004/113/EC) which permits the use of gender-based statistics in assessing premiums and benefits in relation to insurance contracts.

Despite the level of interest the AG’s opinion has provoked, with many insurers taking the view that if the ECJ confirms this opinion the industry will be obliged to increase premiums generally, the commencement of the proceedings in 2009 attracted little attention with just a handful of national governments moved to enter written submissions. This is somewhat surprising and leads one to suspect that the industry may not have paid the case sufficient attention when it was first brought.

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert provides the full details.

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