Gender Bender

Under a new law, young women will pay more for car insurance, men will pay more for life insurance, and male retirees will receive lower monthly benefits. All this is because of government intervention in the free market and flies in the face of risk management . . . something the government knows nothing about.

The European Court of Justice has ruled sex based pricing is discriminatory and has banned this years old practice.

The judgment ignores the fact that taking a person's gender into account, where relevant to the risk, enables men and women alike to get a more accurate price for their insurance."

Please tell me why this is good for consumers?

Adrian Webb of esure said the prohibitively high cost of car insurance for young men has previously helped discourage them from buying high performance vehicles, thus reducing the risk to themselves and others.

"If young men's premiums are artificially reduced, this could lead to more opting to choose more powerful vehicles," he said. "It is particularly alarming given that the head of the Association of Police Officers in the UK in 2005 noted that the biggest killer of young women in Britain is their boyfriend's and male friends' driving."

The law is an ass.

Car insurance for women could rise as much as 25%, annuity pensions for men may be reduced by 8% (lower monthly payout) and life insurance premiums for women may rise by 25%.

But this is in Europe, not here.

At least not yet . . .