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Banning age discrimination in the provision of services

02 July 2009

The Equality Bill currently going through Parliament will outlaw age discrimination in the provision of services for the first time.

The Government has now launched a consultation ‘Equality Bill: Making it work - Ending age discrimination in services and public functions'.

Different treatment based on age in the provision of goods and services is currently lawful and widespread.

The Equality Bill will ban age discrimination in the provision of services and the exercise of public functions, although there are certain individuals and areas that will not be covered by the new law:

In addition, there will be a number of general exceptions in the Equality Bill which will be relevant:

The Consultation document stresses that the new law will not stop service providers from offering age-specific services that are beneficial or objectively justifiable. To ensure this, certain exceptions are likely to be included in the new legislation covering three main areas:

The consultation seeks views on the proposed exemptions.

Health and social care

The Government wants to provide access to health and social care based on need, not age. A national review in this area is currently underway by the Strategic Health Authority and will report in October on which areas of age-based differentiation should be maintained.

Financial services

A survey by Age Concern suggests that people aged 75 and over are almost ten times more likely to be refused a quote for motor or travel insurance.

However, the Government acknowledges that in the insurance industry age can be a valid criterion for pricing risk ‘if it is used properly'.

Three options for this area are put forward for consultation:

The Government says it currently favours the third option. This would require firms to justify a higher price for reasons of risk. Firms would need to produce evidence to establish risk.

Other sectors

There are various other age-based practices outside of financial services and health and social care where specific exemptions are proposed such as age-based holidays and discounts and benefits aimed at certain age groups, for example subsidised transport facilities.

The Government believes that no specific exemption should be available in respect of rental of holiday accommodation and vehicle hire services. It is, however, considering whether vehicle hire companies should be able to charge older and younger people more, to reflect differentials in age-based insurance premiums.

Providers would, however, be able to continue with these practices if they can objectively justify them. However, this will require convincing evidence, not just a reliance on stereotypical assumptions such as ‘young people are more likely to be disruptive and cause damage to property'.

Next steps

The consultation period ends on 30 September 2009. There will be a subsequent consultation on draft regulations and the new law will be implemented in stages. Legislation is expected to be in force for the financial services and other sectors - but not health and social care - in 2012.

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