In the past couple of months the media spotlight has been focused on the Pink Finance Discrimination Campaign. The national gay press have been leading the charge with coverage from 'Gay Times', 'Pink Paper', 'AXM', 'Gay.com' and 'OutUK.com'. All these publications deserve your support for highlighting such important issues.
In case you missed the headlines, we're publishing them below for your attention.

Pink Paper 28th March 2003

"Insurers selling life assurance will be banned from asking personal questions about gay men's love lives, under new guidelines expected soon. At the moment, unmarried men are usually asked if they are gay, bisexual or in other risk groups for HIV, when they apply for life cover.

If they don't deny their homosexuality, companies will often ask them a list of intrusive questions about their sex lives, their monogamy and even their partner's sexual behaviour. But now the Association of British Insurers may be ready to change its guidelines and force the industry to update its policies. Gay financial adviser, Chris Morgan has been working with the ABI on the new guidance, alongside AIDS charity the Terrence Higgins Trust.

He said: "Over the last 12 months, we have been talking and negotiating and the ABI has been very keen to look at the issues relating to gay men. The people I've spoken to from within the industry to date have been very welcoming of my expert opinion and have been very willing to discuss the issues". Morgan's firm, Compass Independent Financial Advisers, specialises in financial advice for gays and lesbians and also runs the www.pinkfinance.com site which has advice on these issues.

He said insurance underwriters were prepared to offer cover to gays and HIV-positive people, but the high-street names that sell their policies were often hesitant. But the insurance industry is now beginning to realise that gay men will not be the main risk group for HIV in the future, with the virus spreading amongst ethnic minorities in Britain. The ABI confirmed they were looking at their policies. A spokesman said: "It is something we have been doing for some time and we will be coming up with something more definite by the end of the year." 

If insurers refuse to follow the ABI guidelines, once they are in place, they could be named and shamed. Meanwhile, Morgan has asked for people to come forward to tell their stories to help ensure that all forms of discrimination are wiped out under any new guidelines. He said: "I would really like to hear about any cases of discrimination from people who have specific examples. We won't get to review these guidelines again for at least three to four years, so I want to get it right."

Gay Times May 2003

Next year could see the end to the intrusive and discriminatory questions asked by many insurance companies prior to selling life assurance policies to gay men.

Currently, unmarried men are often asked to fill in 'lifestyle' questionnaires, asking if they are gay or bisexual. If they answer yes, they will frequently be asked further questions regarding HIV testing, sexual behaviour, STDs, monogamy and partner's sexual behaviour.

Chris Morgan, editor of pinkfinance.com, and director or Compass Independent Financial Advisers, said: "It was deemed unreasonable to ask this question [if a person had tested for HIV] ten years ago, so why are the companies still asking now?" Gay and single men are also frequently asked by insurance companies to test for the virus. 

According to Morgan, there have also been instances of insurance companies making assumptions about the sexuality of applicants, based on their occupations - asking cabin crew and ballet dancers to fill out lifestyle questionnaires.

When the last guidelines were introduced, HIV in the UK was seen as a gay, and largely untreatable disease. With Britain now seeing the largest rise in newly diagnosed infections amongst heterosexuals, this is no longer a tenable position.

Martin Kirk, campaigns and parliamentary officer for the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) said: "The last guidelines were drawn up in 1994, and what it means to live with HIV has changed - the guidelines need to change to reflect this."

Morgan, whose company and website specialise in offering financial advice to the lesbian and gay communities, says: "It's fair to say that change is long overdue, especially in light of the latest figures in the UK for HIV". 

The proposed re-written guidelines are due to be presented in the near future to the committee responsible for life assurance at the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

THT and pinkfinance.com, who are running a campaign around this issue, have been in talks with the ABI for the last year. The ABI represents around 400 companies, transacting 97% of the business of UK insurance companies. Membership of the ABI is dependent upon compliance with its guidelines.

Emma Grainge, spokesperson for the ABI, said: "We are looking to revise our code regarding HIV, though the consultation process is still in the early stages. We've been talking to stakeholder organisations, lobbyists, and our members, to see how we can help insurers deal in a better way with people who are at high risk of [contracting] HIV.

We are hoping to issue new guidelines in the next year," she adds: "It is far more important that we get this right than rush it through, not only for insurers, but for lobbying groups and customers."

Until recently, GPs were routinely approached to provide speculative information regarding lifestyle and sexuality, which was then used to make underwriting decisions. The British Medical Association's 'Blue Book' guidelines for doctors now forbid this. 

Morgan says: "The ABI guidelines should mirror this stance, and life assurance companies should not be allowed to ask".

Dr Michael Wilks, chairman of the BMA's Ethics Committee, commented: "Doctors are only experts in clinical matters, yet insurance companies often ask us about lifestyle issues, such as sexual behaviour or drug use."

Morgan is calling on gay men, who have had experience of insurance company discrimination and intrusive questioning, to come forward with their stories to help illustrate the importance of revising these guidelines. 

Subscribe to the Pink Finance monthly newsletter and keep abreast of what's new on the site by clicking here. Your address will not be shared with any third party and you may unsubscribe at any time.

©2001-2002

Please note that the articles contained within this site were written for Pink Finance and are subject to copyright. They may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the editor. Graphics/images/logos and site design are by John Myers and remain his copyright. Likewise, they may not be reproduced in any form without prior written consent.