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Don't insurance companies still take considerations like gender into consideration? Ie boys getting higher rates than girls? Which funnily enough matches up wi
by darepublic 6y ago
Don't insurance companies still take considerations like gender into consideration? Ie boys getting higher rates than girls? Which funnily enough matches up with the OP except in reverse
- bencollier49 6y agoThat's illegal in the UK now.
- KMnO4 6y agoIt’s worse than that, insurance companies can be both sexist and racist with no consequence. A friend of mine moved and was quoted a much higher rate for their homeowners insurance, to which the agent replied “rates are higher in predominantly-black neighbourhoods”. I don’t know how that’s legal.
- sokoloff 6y agoIMO, rates should be based on projected actuarial losses plus overhead and a (statistical) profit for the insurance company. From my own driving past (male), I’d expect that I was a worse risk in the 16-25 age bracket than most women I knew in that age range. Why shouldn’t I pay more?
- AlexTWithBeard 6y agoShould black male pay more than a white one? (and now we're stepping onto a really slippery slope)
- sokoloff 6y agoShould they pay more because they’re black? Of course not! Because they’re in a group which the actuarial data say costs more in payouts? Why not? Being black should be irrelevant; it should not itself cost a premium nor protect from paying a premium.
- AlexTWithBeard 6y agoSo if, say, black males 16-26 are statistically more likely to get into car crash than any other group, it's perfectly legal to make them pay the highest insurance premium, right?
- sokoloff 6y agoAssuming all other factors are equal (that the crashes are more frequent and equally costly per-crash to the insurance company, etc), then it’s perfectly appropriate to charge any cohort the most if they’re the most expensive cohort to insure. I can’t comment on the legality, as it might be illegal in some places.
- AlexTWithBeard 6y agoWell, following the same logic, should it be legal for a mall to ban entry to all black people, because they have the highest chances of being shoplifters?
- AlexTWithBeard 6y agoThe agent's reply was clearly illegal. And probably incorrect: I highly doubt these days any pricing model uses race as an input.