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Men and women of the same age are often charged different premiums for identical insurance contracts. The reasons for this are related to the likelihood of a man and a woman making a claim being different. The Sex Discrimination (Amendment of Legislation) Regulations 2008 specify the circumstances in which insurance companies can charge different premiums or offer different benefits to men and women under individual insurance contracts.

In particular, the Regulations permit insurance companies to charge different premiums provided that data relevant to the use of gender is compiled, published and regularly updated in accordance with guidance issued by the Treasury. The latest Treasury guidance was published on 7 March 2008 and governs insurance contracts which commenced on or after 6 April 2008. This guidance can be accessed here HM Treasury Guidance March 2008. You'll need to have Adobe Reader to see this.

Virgin Money are therefore obliged by law to share with you data which justifies why we differentiate between males and females. The data we share with you will vary according to the type of contract you are interested in.

• Life Insurance – click here
• Cancer Cover – see the following information.  

The table below shows the ratio of male to female cancer rates based on an analysis of the incidence of cancer and mortality experience in the population of England during the year 1993.

Important notes:

1. This table demonstrates a difference in male and female cancer experience: females are less likely to claim under their policy than males in each of the age bands shown. This will normally mean that women are charged lower premiums for cancer insurance policies than men of the same age.
2. The data shown in the table are based on data where the benefit is paid on the earlier of the specified cancer or death. Different differentials may apply for policies where the benefit is only paid on survival of a specified period after the diagnosis of a specified cancer.   

It is not possible to draw conclusions from the information in these tables about an individual customer’s premium for a number of reasons, e.g.:

• In some cases the data we have published represents an industry average (i.e. for life assurance) whereas we are allowed to use our own data in setting our premium and annuity rates.
• There are other factors that are taken into account in calculating premium rates, such as expenses which do not vary by gender.   

Indeed the Treasury’s guidance states: “This data must demonstrate the case for differing treatment based on gender, but it is highly unlikely to present a direct correlation with the premiums charged or the benefits obtained in individual cases.”

It is also important to note that premiums will depend on differentials by age throughout the term of the policy, not just the age at the start.

The data for Life Insurances is supplied by the Continuous Mortality Investigation, which carries out research into mortality and morbidity experience on behalf of the UK Actuarial Profession. Traditionally this has covered people covered by long term insurance policies issued by life insurance companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. These investigations cover all the main types of life assurance, annuitant, pensioner and income protection insurance contracts offered by the market. The base data is supplied by life insurance companies covering a large proportion of the market.

The data for Cancer Cover is based on an analysis of the incidence of cancer and mortality experience in the population of England during the year 1993.