Europe's Court of Justice handed down a ruling in March 2011 requiring insurers across the EU to stop differentiating premiums by sex. The change must be in place by 21 December 2012.
The industry had been operating under an exemption carved out of a 2007 EU equality directive, letting companies use statistics, such as accident rates and life expectancy, to charge women less for car and life coverage. A Belgian consumer advocacy group, Test-Achats, challenged that exemption and brought the case to court.
EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding praised the outcome, framing it as meaningful progress toward gender equality in practice. British Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim took the opposite view, arguing that young male drivers' higher accident rates justified higher premiums for that group.
Insurers predicted concrete cost shifts for consumers. The Association of British Insurers projected that women under 25 could face a roughly 25 percent rise in auto premiums, while women's life insurance costs could climb as much as 20 percent. Men could pay about 10 percent less for life policies but lose ground on pension annuities, with rates potentially falling around 8 percent. The think tank Open Europe estimated the ruling might require British insurers to raise an additional £936 million in reserve capital.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in March 2011, in its own words.