Policy wording

ppn

I was about to purchase a car insurance policy with 'itsforwomen ' recently until I read through the policy wording. In it, I found the following notice:
"We do not cover Injuries arising if: -the injured person is over the age of 75 years"

This was on a comprehensive policy. So if you have an accident and a passenger or third party of 75 years or older is injured, they are not covered under the policy. Obviously, I did not go ahead with the policy as it is not fully comprehensive as I understand. Is this age discrimination?

biko

Moved out from old thread.


Can you link to this page?

Atlantic Dawn

Page 8

B. Personal Accident
B. We Cover
If you or your spouse are accidentally injured as a result of an accident occurring during the period of insurance:
• while getting into, out of, or travelling in any car and within three months of the date of the accident, the injury is the sole cause of:
• death;
• total and permanent loss of all sight in one or both eyes;
• total loss of one or more limbs;
• total and permanent loss of use of one or more limbs;
we will pay a lump sum of €10,000 for each person following any one accident. If you or your spouse have any other motor insurance with us, the
maximum payment we will make is limited to €7500.

B. We do not cover - Also please see General Exceptions on pages 15 - 16
• Injuries arising if:
-the injured person is over the age of 75 years;
-the injury is as a result of intentional injury, suicide or attempted suicide;
-the driver of the car arising out of an accident was convicted, or has a prosecution pending, under any Road Traffic legislation relating to the level, concentration or quantity of alcohol or drugs in the body
- following a post mortem examination found to have a higher level of alcohol, or drugs in his/her body than is prescribed in the Road Traffic legislation of the territory where the accident occurred
-the injury is caused by earthquake;
- the injury is caused by riot or civil commotion, other than in the Republic of Ireland.

https://www.its4women.ie/documents/policywording.pdf

CiniO

This only applies to "Personal Accident" bit of the policy.
This is usually additional cover, which you have to choose separately, pay extra premium for it (usually about 10 to 20 quid) and it would pay policy holder or his family or named drivers if they are injured and lose limb, eye, or their life. Usually no more than €10k to €25k depending on insurer. This cover would also pay daily rate (usually around €100 - €200) if people listed above need to stay at hostpial for few days.


Generally speaking it is nice addition, but has nothing to do with third party cover, which would cover injuries to any third party caused by policy holder or named drivers.

Vast majority of drivers probably never even opted to have this extra "personal accident" cover.

GM228

ppn wrote: »

I was about to purchase a car insurance policy with 'itsforwomen ' recently until I read through the policy wording. In it, I found the following notice:
"We do not cover Injuries arising if: -the injured person is over the age of 75 years"

This was on a comprehensive policy. So if you have an accident and a passenger or third party of 75 years or older is injured, they are not covered under the policy. Obviously, I did not go ahead with the policy as it is not fully comprehensive as I understand. Is this age discrimination?

Age is a protective characteristic under the Equal Status Act 2000 which prevents someone been treated less favourably due to their age than anyone else, to do so is age discrimination.

However insurance policies are exempt from this if the less favourable treatment is [as per the Act] referenced to actuarial or statistical data obtained from a source on which it is reasonable to rely, or other relevant underwriting or commercial factors, and is reasonable having regard to the data or other relevant factors.

As Cinio states this is for "personal accident" which is an extra and is seperate to third party which applies to any third party irrespective of age.

grogi

ppn wrote: »

I was about to purchase a car insurance policy with 'itsforwomen ' recently until I read through the policy wording. In it, I found the following notice:
"We do not cover Injuries arising if: -the injured person is over the age of 75 years"

This was on a comprehensive policy. So if you have an accident and a passenger or third party of 75 years or older is injured, they are not covered under the policy. Obviously, I did not go ahead with the policy as it is not fully comprehensive as I understand. Is this age discrimination?

They do - they cannot exclude anything in TPL.

ppn

I received a reply today from 'itsforwomen' as follows:

"I must note our Policy Wording, Section 2 - Liability to others, Section A Legal Liability to others does confirm, "We will pay the amount of damages, claimant’s costs and expenses and any other costs agreed between us in writing arising from: death or bodily injury to any person; accidental damage to the property of any person; for which the insured person is liable at law resulting from an accident during the period of insurance involving your car."

I must note we will cover any third party travelling in your vehicle regardless of age, the only exception is for a spouse."

>>>>>>>>>
So now it seems, they are not discriminating entirely because of age as they will cover third parties regardless of age, however they will not cover my 75 year old spouse if he is injured as a passenger in any accident I may have and this is on their comprehensive Xtra insurance.
Had I not read the policy wording in full prior to purchase, they have confirmed that he would not be covered making the policy useless and worthless to me. This is absurd and an absolute farce.
I had, perhaps foolishly, assumed that comprehensive insurance covers all eventualities apart from the normal exemptions.
If my spouse was 74 or if we were not married, he would be covered. Can anyone explain this or is it simply an unusual and unnecessary form of deception?
One of the replies on boards.ie suggested that there was an extra cover available to cover all parties?, however I was not offered this option and it is certainly not listed in the quote section of the 'itsforwomen' website. Just to be clear, my husband does not drive and would only ever be in the car as a passenger and he would not be covered. It makes no sense to me.

GM228

ppn wrote: »

I received a reply today from 'itsforwomen' as follows:

"I must note our Policy Wording, Section 2 - Liability to others, Section A Legal Liability to others does confirm, "We will pay the amount of damages, claimant’s costs and expenses and any other costs agreed between us in writing arising from: death or bodily injury to any person; accidental damage to the property of any person; for which the insured person is liable at law resulting from an accident during the period of insurance involving your car."

I must note we will cover any third party travelling in your vehicle regardless of age, the only exception is for a spouse."

>>>>>>>>>
So now it seems, they are not discriminating entirely because of age as they will cover third parties regardless of age, however they will not cover my 75 year old spouse if he is injured as a passenger in any accident I may have and this is on their comprehensive Xtra insurance.
Had I not read the policy wording in full prior to purchase, they have confirmed that he would not be covered making the policy useless and worthless to me. This is absurd and an absolute farce.
I had, perhaps foolishly, assumed that comprehensive insurance covers all eventualities apart from the normal exemptions.
If my spouse was 74 or if we were not married, he would be covered. Can anyone explain this or is it simply an unusual and unnecessary form of deception?
One of the replies on boards.ie suggested that there was an extra cover available to cover all parties?, however I was not offered this option and it is certainly not listed in the quote section of the 'itsforwomen' website. Just to be clear, my husband does not drive and would only ever be in the car as a passenger and he would not be covered. It makes no sense to me.

The response from the insurance company isn't very clear and a bit misleading, a spouse of any age is covered under EU law for any loss or injury, the insurance company can't refuse such a claim, however the exception for a spouse 75 or over isn't for third party claims as per the response you got, it's for a fixed personal injury payment as per the policy, ask your insurance company to clarify.

As per EU law.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009L0103

(21)
The members of the family of the policyholder, driver or any other person liable should be afforded protection comparable to that of other third parties, in any event in respect of their personal injuries.

12(2)
The members of the family of the policyholder, driver or any other person who is liable under civil law in the event of an accident, and whose liability is covered by the insurance referred to in Article 3, shall not be excluded from insurance in respect of their personal injuries by virtue of that relationship.

Although age discrimination dosn't apply to insurance policies, the EU Directive relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability requires family members to be afforded protection comparable to that of third parties.

The personal accident optional extra which dosn't cover a spouse 75 or over is in relation to a €10,000 lump sum in relation to an injury which causes:-

•death;
• total and permanent loss of all sight in one or both eyes;
• total loss of one or more limbs;
• total and permanent loss of use of one or more limbs

Your spouses loss or injuries claim would still be processed and paid, they just wouldn't be entitled to the €10,000 fixed payment for the above which as previously stated is an "optional extra" above the statutory insurance requirements.

Special Circumstances

GM228 wrote: »

The response from the insurance company isn't very clear and a bit misleading

surprise surprise!

Sue Pa Key Pa

I read it this way

1) If an over 75 claims for an injury under the Personal Accident section, there is no benefit available.
2) If an over 75 passenger is injured from an accident caused by the insured's driving, they can claim for unlimited amounts, just like any member of the public, from the policyholder's policy
3) If an over 75 passenger is injured from an accident caused by a 3rd party, they claim against them, so it doesn't matter

Henry Ford III

Beware of keyboard barristers!

coylemj

OP, previous mentions of the its4women insurance company say that they are a nightmare to deal with if there are any admin issues like change of car, additional named driver or whatever. Just search in the Banking and Insurance and this forum and you'll get clear warnings to steer clear of them.

hullaballoo

I just can't get past the fact that you're querying whether the company is discriminating on the basis of age when they won't insure men full stop. :pac:

ppn

They do insure men. Just the name of the company is misleading. They certainly offer quotes to men and seem to be similar in price to other insurance companies.