Disability Discrimination Act and insurance

This page is about epilepsy, insurance and the Disability Discrimination Act in the UK. If you are looking for information about insurance in other countries, then please contact your local epilepsy organisation which should be able to help you.

Insurance comes under the Access to Goods and Services section of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). There are special rules covering insurance.

Here is a summary of Epilepsy Action’s understanding of insurance and the DDA.

• Insurers must be fair and reasonable in their dealings.
• Insurers may refuse to insure a disabled person or increase the premium charged compared to that charged to a non-disabled person, as long as they can justify their actions.
• The insurer’s decision must be based on information or data relevant to the assessment of risk and that information or data must be from a source which it is reasonable to rely on.
• Information or data can come from various sources, such as actuarial* or statistical data, medical research information, or a medical report about an individual from any reasonable source.
• Information or data must be current.
• Any decisions made on the basis of the information must be considered to be reasonable.
• If an insurer has a ‘blanket’ policy covering, for example, epilepsy, they have to be able to justify this policy with regard to points 3 – 6 above. (In reality, it is unlikely that they would be able to do so.)

Note: Insurance policies taken out before 2 December 1996, when the legislation on insurance came into place, do not have to conform to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). It is only when the policy comes up for renewal that it comes under the DDA.

Insurers are required by law to justify their position if they wish to treat people with medical conditions or other disabilities differently from other people. For example, they may use actuarial* data, medical research information or a report from your doctor.

Further information about insurance and disabilities can be obtained from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Association of British Insurers also have an Insurer’s Guide to the DDA 1995.

What can you do if you feel you have been discriminated against?

Start by trying to sort it out with the insurers. (Contacting the Equality and Human Rights Commission in England, Scotland and Wales or the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland for advice on your rights before you contact the insurers could be helpful.)

If contact with the insurers is not successful, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, who will assess if the insurer has made a fair and legitimate commercial decision. In some cases, people can take it to the county court (in Scotland, the sheriff court). You may wish to contact a solicitor to help if you are going to court.

Glossary

* Actuarial – figures used to determine insurance rates and premiums, based on reports and payout costs.

Sources

• Association of British Insurers, Insurance for Disabled People. 1996
• Disability Rights Commission, Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Proposals for a New Code of Practice: Rights of, Access, Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises. 2000.
• The Disability Discrimination Act (Services and Premises) Regulations 1996, Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 1836. 2001
• Financial Ombudsman Service

Information updated September 2006