11 years of Unisex - Fear and Actuality: a German Perspective

Starting 21st of December 2012 within the EU differences in pricing related to gender has become illegal. From that day on all EU insurance companies were obliged to sell unisex tariffs.The fears and worries of the industry ranged from increased workload for actuaries, over strongly increasing premiums due to the new risk “gender mix” and a related cut in sales up to threats like adverse selection with only women buying pension plans and only men buying risk insurance.  In our talk we will explore the reality behind the initial fears and worries connected with unisex rates regarding premium levels, adverse selection and surplus levels in the life and health insurance of Germany. Thereby, we will answer questions like: Did the overall portfolio composition change significantly? Did premium and surplus levels increase? How have customers and industry reacted? In which way did unisex influenced modern product development and what did we learn from it? Last but not least: Has gender differentiation become actuarial insignificant?