Belgian Center for Equal Opportunities calls for action against age discrimination in access to driving insurances

In a move to end age discrimination against older drivers, Unia, the Belgian Center for Equal Opportunities, formally calls on Belgian minister Kris Peeters to take action.

About 1 in 5 complaints of age discrimination Unia receives concern age discrimination by insurance companies. In this case: insurance companies who refuse or even cancel driving insurance contracts for people aged 75+, simply because of their age or even without any motivation.

‘Risks on a car accident are defined by specific medical conditions, the distances people drive, the amount of earlier accidents or the number of years with driving experience’, Unia says in a policy advice to minister of Economy and Consumer Issues Kris Peeters.

‘Research clearly shows that age of itself is not a deciding factor. Excluding people simply because of their age is discrimination and forbidden by law.’

Unia asks minister Kris Peeters to debate this issue with the sector. Alternatives for exclusion by age are for example a training courses in safe driving or tests to evaluate driving competences for people who regularly cause driving accidents.

Read the press release by Unia here (in Flemish)