Vol. 454 No. 3
167 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that insurance for drivers with a disability is impossible to find for less than £2,750; and if he will send a circular to all insurance companies informing them of relevant equality legislation already enacted. [10758/95]
The primary responsibility of the insurance supervisory authority is to ensure that insurers authorised to carry on business in this country meet their statutory reserve and solvency requirements. In order to fulfil these requirements, insurers must be free to set their premiums in the light of their underwriting experience. Insurers maintain that, on the basis of their underwriting experience, drivers with certain disabilities are likely to be a greater risk than the average motorist, particularly where a disabled driver is also an inexperienced driver.
The question of high risk loadings applied to insurance premiums of disabled drivers has been taken up by my Department on many occasions both with individual insurance companies and with the insurance industry representative bodies. Arising from the referral of the problem of disability loadings to the Motor Insurance Advisory Board it was agreed that: provided the driver remained claims free, a maximum loading of 20 per cent disability would apply in the first year of insurance; this would decrease to 15 per cent in the second year of claims free insurance and no loading at all would apply thereafter provided that the driver remained claims free. This arrangement is being operated by all the authorised motor insurers. It does not apply in the cases of degenerative illnesses and is subject to the insurer's right to call for a medical examination.
