Discrimination by Actuaries

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Inspired by this article- http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/pens...022542.article

TLDR version- men get better annuity rates than women, because they don't live as long. Incidentally, smokers can also get better rates from some providers, for the same reasons.

Curiously, you can't get better rates for being black- even though black people tend to have shorter life expectancies. Because that is wrong and bad, or something.

Of course, the flipside of all these cases tends to apply when looking at premiums for life insurance. Anyway, the ECJ is getting all shouty about it- is that justified, or are they just being tossers?

[Felch]

I thought the whole point of actuaries was to figure stuff like this out.

[KrazyHorse]

Increasing adverse selection/informational asymmetry problems

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I thought the whole point of actuaries was to figure stuff like this out.

They did. However it's the whole point of civil liberties lawyers to then object to it.

[Kuciwalker]

1) Insurance/etc price discrimination based on generally protected categories such as race would ideally be legal. To the degree that we wish to insure people against the risk of being born into less fortunate circumstances we should generally achieve this through explicit government redistribution, such as a guaranteed minimum income. Achieving it through a patchwork of opaque price controls on certain products sucks, especially when they risk antiselection.

2) There's no politically feasible way to actually repeal laws against sex/race/etc discrimination, so (1) is academic.

[KrazyHorse]

Uh, why is it socially acceptable to discriminate on sex and age but not race then

[Kuciwalker]

1) It isn't always legal to discriminate based on sex, and where it is this is being curtailed (see PPACA).

2) At least in the US, age discrimination is frequently illegal when in favor of young people. Where it is legal, it may be restricted (again, see PPACA, which limits the rate at which premiums can increase with age).

[Aeson]

Because of sex changes and oil of olay

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Is it really discrimination when what women can lose by lower annuity payments, they can gain by lower life insurance premiums?

[N35t0r]

Is it really discrimination when the space blacks can't use at the front of the bus, they can get at the back?

[Dauphin]

Do annuity payments and insurance premiums have status and stigmas attached to them that I don't know about?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Is it really discrimination when the space blacks can't use at the front of the bus, they can get at the back?

Remove the "discrimination" in the annuity payments, and you just end up making pension returns poorer for poor, black menwith health problems, to the benefit of wealthy, able-bodied white women.

[N35t0r]

Oh, I'm not against annuity payments depending on expected life expectancy. I just jumpet at the opportunity to be facetious