{"id":8,"date":"2010-05-10T13:00:41","date_gmt":"2010-05-10T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/?p=8"},"modified":"2010-06-14T09:30:54","modified_gmt":"2010-06-14T09:30:54","slug":"equal-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/?p=8","title":{"rendered":"Equal Opportunities!"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Published October 2005 \u2026 Edited May 2010.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On the 30th September 2005, we will finally have the opportunity to insure our lives, partners and income without fear of discrimination. This will be the end of a personal journey that started back in March 1999, with a promise to remove the \u2018gay question\u2019 from all Life Assurance application forms.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With the introduction of the new Association of British Insurers guidelines relating to HIV and Insurance, the job will be complete. Intrusive questions for gay men will be removed from all Life Assurance, Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover applications. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Life Assurance companies are already preparing new application forms, which will have no specific method to identify gay men. There is going to be a new common method for assessing HIV risk, and a new question relevant to all risk groups.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Finally the insurance industry will be recognising that HIV is a global issue, which affects people from all walks of life and not just the gay community. This is the new question that will be asked of all those applying for Life Assurance, Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover, regardless of sexuality.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the last five years have you been exposed to HIV infection?\u201d (This can be caught through unsafe sex, intravenous drug use, or blood transfusions or surgery undertaken outside the EU) <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A number of insurance industry publications have already criticised the new questioning and procedures on the grounds that they are more intrusive towards heterosexual clients. They seem to forget that the gay community has suffered far more intrusive questioning than this for over a decade. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the past we may have avoided our responsibilities, or may have been reluctant to answer intrusive questions and take compulsory HIV tests. As a consequence there will many of us that will be under insured in respect of our incomes, mortgages, partners and business\u2019s.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a guide to the new insurance underwriting rules and the many new opportunities that now exist for gay financial planning. Along with the new insurance application forms, there are going to be changes to the limits at which Life Assurance companies ask all people for an HIV test.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Individuals<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Many gay people in the past have avoided insuring their life, mortgage or income through fear of discrimination. From now on you will be able to apply for all these types of cover without being asked about your sexuality, and without compulsory HIV testing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You will be able to apply for higher amounts of Life Assurance, Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover without being asked to take a HIV test. With many insurance companies increasing their single male HIV testing limit from \u00a3100,000 to an amount between \u00a3300,000 and \u00a3600,000. <\/span><\/span><\/span>(This has now subsequently been moved to \u00a31,000,000 by all Life Assurance Companies)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This means you will be able to apply for Life Assurance, Critical Illness or Income Protection below these limits without taking an HIV test. You will still be required to take an HIV test for higher amounts of insurance, but this will be the same with all other groups.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Partners<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A large number of gay couples have needed extra cover above their mortgage needs, but were reluctant to apply for fear of discrimination. You will now be able to apply for higher amounts of cover, without the requirement to take an HIV test, or answer any intrusive questions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time you will be able to submit a joint application, without Life Assurance companies asking intimate questions about your relationship. There is now no way of confirming that you are gay, and therefore you will be treated equally along with applications from Heterosexual couples. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Once again you will be able to apply for cover between \u00a3300,000 and \u00a3600,000, depending on the individual company to whom you apply. Some companies have promised not to ask for an HIV test for cover up to \u00a31,000,000 for those couples who have signed the civil partnership register. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Businesses <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Many Gay businesses may have been reluctant to take insurance cover in the past due to directors and partners being asked personal questions and HIV testing. This was especially the case if the business was widely known to be operating within the gay community. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Companies that may have avoided taking important business insurance in the past now have the opportunity to take higher amounts of cover. If you\u2019re a company director, or in a partnership, you will now be able to apply for higher amounts of cover without declaring your sexuality. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time Gay businesses will have the opportunity to take insurance protection for their management and their key employees without fear of discrimination. They will be able to make sure that provisions are in place to safeguard future ownership of the business and profitability. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Product Providers<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the finance industry\u2019s own terms we are probably the most \u2018underinsured\u2019, or \u2018undersold\u2019 group of people in relation to financial services. Over the coming months we\u2019re likely to see a large increase in the number of companies who are interested in insuring our lives and investing our money.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Many product providers are now starting to embrace the gay community, with new products that are considerate to our needs. One Life Assurance company is now even offering special treatment and terms for those signing the Civil Partnership register. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are also companies seizing the moment and starting to market their brand within the gay press and media. With the barriers being removed, product providers are finally seeing gay customers as being desirable. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Whole Market<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

From October 2005 we will be able to choose our financial products from the full range of providers available. We are now able to look at the \u2018whole of the market\u2019 and make our selections based upon competitive pricing, the quality of cover and service standards. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve never had such opportunity to look after our financial future and choose the best products for our needs. It\u2019s time for the gay community to break free from repression by protecting our homes, incomes and partners \u2013 to save and invest for our futures.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Editors Notes \u2026. May 2010<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All Life Assurance providers now ask \u2018single males\u2019 for a HIV test only when applying for Life Assurance Income Protection and Critical Illness cover for amounts of over \u00a31,000,000. Pink Finance is extremely proud to have paved the way for the LGBT community to be treated equally by the insurance industry.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Chris Morgan is the Marketing Manager of Compass <\/strong><\/em><\/span>www.compassindependent.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span> , The Gay Mortgage and Insurance Advisers and editor of Pink Finance<\/strong><\/em><\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span>www.pinkfinance.co.uk<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/span><\/span> The Gay Finance Magazine. He was a consultant to the Association of British Insurers on Gay and HIV and Insurance issues between 2003 and 2008.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the 30th September 2005, we will finally have the opportunity to insure our lives, partners and income without fear of discrimination. This will be the end of a personal journey that started back in March 1999, with a promise to remove the \u2018gay question\u2019 from all Life Assurance application forms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51,"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions\/51"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pink-finance.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}