Positive thinking and life assurance
THE FINANCIAL TIMES - 1ST JUNE 2003
Insurance companies who offer policies to people with HIV/Aids.
Pride Without Prejudice sounds as if it comes straight out of the 1980’s. it’s a slogan that would have been screamed over barricades during the Clause 28 debate. It would have been a cry for equality.
This being 2000’s, it is of course a trademarked slogan belonging to an insurance company. Which is not to say the companion in this case, Burgesses, does not have a right to use it, offering, as they do, insurance for men in the event of HIV or Aids.
Burgesses has gained quite a reputation of itself within the insurance industry for offering cover on those areas other financial firms, frankly, would not touch. Led by managing partner, Simon Burgess, they have offered cover for everything from alien abduction to Virgin births, from being changed into a werewolf, to death or injury caused by ghosts or poltergeists.
In short, they are not shy of publicity nor the odd gimmick or tow. But this is too critical because they are also adept at indentifying a market which most others ignore.
Pride Without Prejudice aims to provide insurance for gay men in the event of contracting HIV or Aids. The monthly premium is determined by several factors – which waiting period you choose (30, 60 or 90 days) before you receive your money and whether you opt for unemployment and/or disability cover.
In their fetching pink brochure, Burgesses use the example of someone who chooses the unemployment-only cover with a 30-day waiting period and requires a monthly payment of £360. in this case the monthly premium comes in at £13.50.
“It does exactly what any other insurance policy does,” insists Mr Burgess. “But in this case it aims to insure homosexual males against the risk of contracting Aids.”
Mr Burgess; logic for launching such a plan is not motivated for a desire for publicity, but simply to make money for his company. While the tabloids may believe homosexuals have but to smile at each other and that is it, Mr Burgess studied his mortality tables and with a little help from the Terrence Higgins Trust, saw the potential for this policy.
“If you look at the tables,” he says adamantly, “then you’ll see there is more chance of getting lots of other illnesses. The risk of getting Aids is much lower than for many diseases.”
He has managed to sell his idea to 12,000 customers so far. It is also worth mentioning Burgesses first made a name for itself when it appeared on the front page of this paper a few years ago with another policy to protect gay men and lesbians from queer bashing. If only all insurance firms were this enlightened.
