World Blind Union Office
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WBU External Resource Paper
Access to Insurance for
Blind People
Approval: September 2004
Replaces:
Date Reviewed:
Author: Maryanne Diamond
E-mail:
Note:
_______________________________________________
Executive Summary:
Introduction
In May 2004 at a meeting of the WBU Officers held in Cameroon, Africa there was some discussion about the difficulties encountered by blind or vision impaired people in accessing insurance. These discussions identified that there was different rules applied by an insurance company to persons who are blind and persons who are not blind, different rules applied for different insurance products and there was a range of experiences from country to country.
KUA Cheng Hock from Singapore and Maryanne Diamond from Australia were tasked with the responsibility to develop questions in the form of a survey with the aim being to collect data and determine the extent of the problem. With assistance from the WBU Officers the survey would be distributed widely and results compiled into a report for the October 2004 officers meeting.
Seven questions were prepared and all responses were forwarded to Maryanne Diamond via Email
At the time of preparing this report completed surveys had been received from: South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Switzerland, France, UK, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. There was an additional response from a European country; however, during a change of computer I misplaced this response. Not knowing who it was from I was unable to request them to resend the message.
In reviewing the responses it is obvious that there have been differences in the persons or persons tasked with the responsibility to respond. In some cases organisations collected information from a number of sources, advocacy organisations responded and in some cases an individual who is blind has responded based on their personal experience.
Questions & Summary of responses.
1. Is obtaining insurance cover difficult for blind people in your country?
The responses ranged from “NO”, to sometimes to in some cases with some responded “YES” .Countries such as Australia and UK indicated experience dealing with a number of cases where blind people had encountered difficulty in obtaining insurance. Some responses indicated that in some countries obtaining insurance is not a high priority for blind people therefore the difficulties may not have arisen at this time.
2. Are there some types of insurance cover which are more difficult to obtain than others? (For example, is it easier to get life insurance than income protection insurance? Are people who are blind able to get travel insurance?)
There was a great variation in responses to this question. In most cases it was indicated that travel insurance was not difficult to obtain. Most indicated that life insurance was difficult to obtain and in many cases required a higher premium or the cover was limited. Income Protection in almost all cases was identified as extremely difficult to obtain. The response from Chile differed in the way that income support was easier to obtain than life insurance. The response from Sweden indicated that cover for all citizens is different from other countries. It appears that Employers, trade unions or other such groups cover the income protection for all employees. The response from Sweden identified that insurance cover for children was difficult, however, it was not clear as to weather this meant children who are blind or the children of blind people. This type of insurance was not identified in any other response. Denmark identified that concerns have been raised related to damage protection, liability and health insurance which were not identified in any other response.
3. Are you aware of blind people obtaining insurance cover on less favorable terms than people who are not blind? (For example, do blind people have to pay more for their policies and/or have exclusion clauses written into their policies?)
It appears that without exception responses identified that either exclusion clauses (in many cases far broader than blindness) are applied to insurance policies or in some cases higher premiums are paid for such cover. This is particularly in the case of life insurance. In the response from Australia other reasons for being treated less favorably were identified. These included:
Regular medical reviews which would not be required of people who were not blind;
discrimination against blind people in terms of applying for insurance as the policy is not available in a format they can read which often leads to involving a third party to read the material and sometimes this costs money;
Proof of identity is often a problem as a driver’s license is required when taking out a policy.
4. Are you aware of blind people being refused coverage when they attempt to make a claim on their insurance?
In almost all cases the response was “NO” or indicated that the information on this issue was unknown. Sweden identified that claims have been refused associated with children’s insurance. In the UK there have been cases where claims have been rejected when blind people have been involved in accidents.
5. Does your country have laws which make discrimination against people with disabilities in the area of insurance unlawful? If so, are there any exceptions to these laws?
Australia has disability discrimination legislation with an exception to this law which deals with insurance. The exception applies as long as the discrimination is based on actuarial or statistical data on which it is reasonable to rely. The UK appears to be similar. Chile has disability discrimination legislation; however, insurance companies are able to include criteria in their policies which are not protected by these laws. The remaining responses indicated that in some countries there were no disability discrimination legislation and in the cases where there was legislation it was unclear as to weather insurance was covered under these laws or not.
6. Are you aware of any case law on this issue?
Australia was the only country able to list case law in this matter with two cases described.
7. Are you aware of blind people being able to obtain copies of their insurance policies in an accessible format?
The UK response indicated they were aware that this was happening in a limited way. Denmark indicated that one request by an applicant to an insurance company to produce material on tape was agreed to. All other responses clearly indicated that it doesn’t happen.
Conclusion
There was a huge difference in the responses obtained. This could be due to a number of factors. Some of these may include:
Knowledge of the person completing the survey on the range of experiences of blind people in that country;
The range of insurance products offered to all citizens not just blind people
Understanding of the disability discrimination law where it exists and any exemptions in the area of insurance where applicable;
An understanding of the range of reasons blind people do or do not obtain insurance;
My interpretation of the responses particularly terminology used in the responses.
The response from the UK raised an additional issue not covered in the questions which worth highlighting. They outline that insurance is often used as a reason for a service Provider treating blind people less favorably in that the service is refused on the basis that a blind person would not be covered by the Service Providers insurance policy. This is certainly the case in Australia.
Recommendations
It is clear from the small number of responses that access to insurance cover for blind people is a concern. I would suggest that further work be undertaken in this area to obtain an accurate picture of the situation around the world and all attempts be made to encourage participation by all WBU members. In addition, I would suggest that with support from the regional presidents national members be approached and asked to identify the most appropriate person or organization in their country to work with on this issue.
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