No more pushy questions

The era of gay men being asked how many sexual partners they have had, or being told to take HIV tests if they want certain types of insurance could be set to end.

The questions and tests have been imposed by life, and sometimes health insurance companies for two decades. Phil Carvosso, an independent financial adviser specialising in the gay community, has launched what is claimed as the first critical illness policy for gay couples which does not impose an HIV test or intrusive questionnaire. It will pay out on diagnosis of a range of life-threatening conditions.

Carvosso says: 'Gay men have not been treated with the same respect and dignity as straight people. Since the early Eighties, the UK life and pensions industry has been compulsorily testing same-sex partners deemed to be at risk of Aids, an epidemic which has thankfully never materialised in the UK.'

Carvosso has found a company, Unum Provident, which is willing to be more liberal. Like all critical illness policies, however, its offering excludes HIV, the virus that can lead to Aids.

Current industry practice comes as a surprise to many. An application by a gay man to Legal & General will trigger, as is industry practice, an additional questionnaire. Legal & General's form first asks whether you are heterosexual/homosexual/bisexual and then asks if 'you ever belonged to any of the other groups indicated in question 1' - assuming that applicants are heterosexual. It then asks if you had ever had a sexual partner who was homosexual /bisexual/intravenous drug user/haemophiliac/ anyone whose normal residence is or was outside the UK.

Scottish Equitable, another leading provider of protection insurance, sends a form to gay applicants' doctors asking how many partners the applicant has had in the last five-10 years, whether they are in a monogamous relationship, whether they practice safe sex and if they have had any sexually transmitted diseases in the last three years. Gay men point out that promiscuous heterosexuals are not exposed to the same questioning.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Equitable points out the company is adhering to the current code of practice from the Association of British Insurers.

Roger Wells, who supervises underwriting at Legal & General, denies current practice is homophobic and says there is also screening to pick up mental health and muscular-skeletal issues as well as people who have lived in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV infection rates can be as high as 25 per cent. He says: 'Subject to a negative HIV test and completing the additional information form, we offer most gay men cover at standard rates. We also have robust confidentiality procedures.'

Not surprisingly, many gay men abandon their applications, leaving themselves vulnerable to a future question from an insurance company if they had withdrawn an application, risking again being marked down. They are also left without the benefits of insurance cover that many people take for granted.

The Terence Higgins Trust, the leading Aids charity, says it regularly gets complaints from gay men. For example, 'John' and his partner were advised to take out life insurance when they took out a mortgage. They went to one company and found the questionnaire offensive. They then tried to get cover through a supermarket chain linked to a leading provider. Again they got a supplementary questionnaire and were told it was standard practice for high-risk groups.

They answered the personal questions truthfully and to their shock then received a letter - not marked 'private and confidential' - saying they must take an HIV test.

John complained to the company, and was told he could try to sue if he felt upset. After a third attempt, in which the insurer wanted a report from his GP and a medical, he gave up.

The trust, gay rights campaign Stonewall, and a handful of gay IFAs, are talking to the Association of British Insurers. And the insurance companies are understood to be looking for a new industry code. Many are sceptical, however, about whether this will lead to a new willingness to provide non-discriminatory cover.

Kim North, a partner at financial services consultancy Pretty Technical, says: 'The industry has been too backward looking and dominated by heterosexual males. I can't see the testing and questionnaires going across the board.'

· Carvosso & Co, 0800 0969012; or www.samesexcover.com.