The Insurance Association of Malta has warned that a Bill establishing a new National Commission for Human Rights and Equality was advanced through parliament without renewed consultation with the insurance sector.
The IAM said the current legislation differs materially from draft versions discussed with stakeholders in 2017 and 2018, describing it as regrettable that the Bill had progressed without further industry engagement. The Association stopped short of opposing the legislation outright, stating clearly that it supports the principles of equality, inclusion and the protection of fundamental rights.
Its concern centres on how the Bill interacts with risk-based underwriting – the core actuarial practice through which insurers assess individual risk profiles to price products and maintain financial sustainability across their policyholder base. The IAM argued that this practice, when grounded in objective actuarial, statistical and medical evidence, is a legitimate and internationally recognised method of ensuring fairness and should not be conflated with unlawful discrimination.
The distinction matters in practice. Anti-discrimination legislation that does not explicitly account for evidence-based risk differentiation could, the Association suggested, constrain how insurers price products – with potential consequences for both policyholders and the broader financial services sector in Malta.
The IAM called on government to convene further discussions with industry stakeholders before the parliamentary process concluded, arguing that legislation with implications of this scope warranted closer engagement with those it would directly affect.
The Bill’s full text and parliamentary timetable were not detailed in the Association’s statement, and it is unclear at what stage the legislation currently sits. What is clear is that the IAM views the absence of fresh consultation as a procedural misstep rather than a fundamental objection to the Bill’s intent – a distinction that may shape how negotiations, if any are forthcoming, proceed.
