MPs on Monday agreed to changes proposed by the government to a bill passed by the House earlier this month aiming to end discriminatory practices by insurance companies against elderly drivers.
On March 5, the House plenum had voted through legislation forcing motor insurance companies to document their reasons when terminating coverage to people aged over 70 or when increasing premiums for people in this age group.
However, President Nikos Christodoulides refused to sign it into law, sending the bill back to parliament with suggestions for changes.
In parliament on Monday, officials with the attorney-general’s office – acting as the state’s legal counsel – explained the changes.
MPs agreed to the tweaks, otherwise the matter would end up at the Supreme Court and take months to adjudicate.
As such, the revised bill will go back to the plenum for a vote this Thursday, where it is expected to pass.
The legislative initiative belongs to Volt MP Alexandra Attalidou. It seeks to prohibit insurers from imposing excessive premiums or refusing coverage to drivers over 70 solely based on age. It aims to end age-based discrimination, ensuring fairer costs for pensioners who currently face high premiums despite good driving records.
Insurance companies will be required to justify, with data, any decision to stop covering drivers over 70, rather than using age as an automatic disqualifier.
In Cyprus, drivers over 70 must renew their driving license every three years, which requires a health certificate, a fact that insurers have used to justify higher risk premiums.
MPs agreed to the government-proposed changes as they don’t alter the bill’s philosophy.
For example, Attalidou’s bill initially stipulated that insurance companies should provide, effective immediately, various data – such as accident compensation claims by age group – to the Superintendent of Insurance.
Now, this obligation kicks in as of January 1, 2027. Insurance companies must provide the data to the Superintendent of Insurance once a year.
In addition, the government proposed that the obligation to justify termination of an insurance policy does not apply to new clients for whom the policy has not started yet.
“I agreed to the changes because the aim is to safeguard elderly citizens,” Attalidou told the Cyprus Mail.
The MP said that, prior to the vote in the House in early March, insurance companies had moved to cancel a number of insurance policies for elderly drivers.
People who feel unfairly treated in this way can file a complaint to the financial ombudsman at [email protected].
