Age Sector Platform (ASP) believes older people should have the right to be treated equally regardless of their age. The current provisions to tackle ageist attitudes and discriminatory practices are not adequate. A recent survey found that almost half (49%) of respondents believed society treats older people differently because of their age, with two thirds (67%) stating that the Government is not doing enough to combat age discrimination^{ICM 2006 survey for Research on Age Discrimination project and report ‘Too Old: older people’s accounts of discrimination, exclusion and rejections’, Help the Aged/Open University 2007}.

Age is currently the only remaining equality strand through which it is lawful to discriminate against a person in the provision of goods, facilities and services. Therefore, in reality this allows for unfair provision of services such as insurance, health care and social services to older people.

Half (50%) of those surveyed by Help the Aged believe health professionals sometimes dismiss symptoms as ‘just old age’^Ibid. Dismissing health problems as an inevitable part of getting old is, not only blatant discrimination of the basis of age, but could also result in fatal consequences for the older person being ‘dismissed’. The introduction of legislation to outlaw age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services is needed immediately.

Unfortunately, older people often experience difficulties in obtaining reasonably priced insurance products, such as travel and motor insurance, with 32% of UK travel insurance policies excluding those over the age of 65^{Association of British Insurers, ‘Insuring Older People’ 2007}. Motor insurance is also extremely important, considering that around 81,000 people aged 70 or over hold a current driving license in Northern Ireland^{Age Concern, Public Policy for Older People 2008}. Therefore it is essential that adequate insurance is provided to older drivers.

Age Sector Platform aims to:

• Campaign for legislation in Northern Ireland to outlaw age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services
• Highlight areas of concern in insurance markets for older people
• Remove barriers to car and travel insurance
• Improve insurance market and choice for older people
• Increase older people’s knowledge of specialist insurance providers and products tailored for their needs.