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01.03.2011, 17:54
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: |  | | | Insurers cannot charge different premiums to men and women because of their gender | | | | | This makes perfect sense. They can still charge different premiums based on their propensity to have an accident/claim.
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01.03.2011, 17:57
| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | Your statement is correct only if you assume accidents are independent of each other. Statistical claims evidence of motor vehicles would suggest not. | | | | | No. I didn't say, imply nor do I believe that accidents are independent of each other. They all link back to the driver (which is why the no claims bonus system is a good one IMO). They don't, however, link to or influence each other, which was the discussion with the dice previously.
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01.03.2011, 17:59
| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | This makes perfect sense. They can still charge different premiums based on their propensity to have an accident/claim. | | | | | Exactly, but only after they've been insured for a while. New drivers will have to be insured at the same rate.
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01.03.2011, 18:02
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | Your statement is correct only if you assume accidents are independent of each other. Statistical claims evidence of motor vehicles would suggest not. | | | | | Other things come into it as well.
So supposing A is a poor driver but only drives rarely, and has therefore had few accidents. Now A changes job or residence and starts driving a lot more. A's accident rate is going to increase but the insurer cannot forsee that because they're not looking at this information.
Reversely, B is a safe driver who drives a lot for work and has, by simple virtue of the large number of hours spent on the road, been involved in a fair number of accidents. B gets a new job where he can commute by public transport and only takes the car for a once a month Sunday visit to Grandma. Yet B will continue to be charged in the high risk bracket.
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01.03.2011, 18:12
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | Reversely, B is a safe driver who drives a lot for work and has, by simple virtue of the large number of hours spent on the road, been involved in a fair number of accidents. B gets a new job where he can commute by public transport and only takes the car for a once a month Sunday visit to Grandma. Yet B will continue to be charged in the high risk bracket. | | | | | Although "B" can reduce his premiums by telling his insurance company that he is not using his car for commuting and only uses for recreational purposes*... *like I did & do... | 
01.03.2011, 18:14
| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination
At the risk of dragging this thread kicking and screaming back on-topic, AFAICS the ruling is inevitable, given the drive towards gender equality that many people would regard as A Good Thing.
The harsh reality is that such equality cannot (or at least, should not) be à la carte - "I want gender equality on this, this and this, but I don't want gender equality on that..." - any more than any other "equality".
This in itself can create "inequality" - e.g. positive discrimination, whilst sometimes deemed necessary, also has its negative aspects - but less than maintaining the status quo.
Some may remember the insurance companies' (in)famous question in the late '80s / early '90s, along the lines of "Have you ever had an AIDS test?" The government of the day finally instructed them that this could not be asked as it was discriminatory.
And at the risk of being a crashing bore and contaminating the discussion with facts  , here's the UK insurance industry's take on the implications of the ban, from last summer when the ban was still putative... | The following 2 users would like to thank for this useful post: | | 
01.03.2011, 18:29
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination
There is no need to panic yet on the new regulations. They will not apply until December 2012.
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01.03.2011, 18:32
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | The harsh reality is that such equality cannot (or at least, should not) be à la carte - "I want gender equality on this, this and this, but I don't want gender equality on that..." - any more than any other "equality". | | | | | What you mean, like, fair and, you know, equal, for like everyone?
Nah. Can't see that happening... | This user would like to thank Carlos R for this useful post: | | 
01.03.2011, 19:26
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | Some may remember the insurance companies' (in)famous question in the late '80s / early '90s, along the lines of "Have you ever had an AIDS test?" The government of the day finally instructed them that this could not be asked as it was discriminatory. | | | | | Surely it would only be discriminatory if they asked the applicant to disclose the outcome of the test. There's not much you can infer from whether or not the test actually took place. It might just indicate that the person was a blood donor for example.
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01.03.2011, 20:04
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | Other things come into it as well.
So supposing A is a poor driver but only drives rarely, and has therefore had few accidents. Now A changes job or residence and starts driving a lot more. A's accident rate is going to increase but the insurer cannot forsee that because they're not looking at this information. | | | | | No because this would violate the first condition of his sentence :
" All else remaining equal, if I, economisto have two accidents, the chances of me having a third remain exactly the same. It's exactly the same as the dice argument."
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01.03.2011, 20:11
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| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | No. I didn't say, imply nor do I believe that accidents are independent of each other. They all link back to the driver (which is why the no claims bonus system is a good one IMO). They don't, however, link to or influence each other, which was the discussion with the dice previously. | | | | | Here is your original statement : | Quote: | |  | | | All else remaining equal, if I, economisto have two accidents, the chances of me having a third remain exactly the same. It's exactly the same as the dice argument. | | | | | Now compare that to the already quoted definition of probabilistic independence : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_independence
In probability theory, to say that two events are independent intuitively means that the occurrence of one event makes it neither more nor less probable that the other occurs.
Your statement neccessarily implies independence by definition.
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01.03.2011, 23:30
| | Re: Statistics and Discrimination | Quote: | |  | | | Surely it would only be discriminatory if they asked the applicant to disclose the outcome of the test. There's not much you can infer from whether or not the test actually took place. It might just indicate that the person was a blood donor for example. | | | | | Not so - the whole point of the question was that (at that time) only people who perceived themselves to be at risk would have had themselves tested...
The insurance/assurance industry discriminated accordingly against anyone who answered "yes", regardless of a "negative" test result. |
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