February 2, 2015
A minister in Neath Port Talbot claimed that her insurance company threatened to void her insurance policy because she put religious stickers on her car's chassis.
According to Reverend Wena Parry, her insurance provider, Age UK Insurance, told her that the "Christ Must Be Saviour" and "Christ For Me" stickers that she put on her car are considered modifications and could disallow her from making claims on her policy.
Rev Parry told the BBC that she believes this is unfair treatment on account of her religious beliefs.
"There might be somebody within that company that hates Christianity," she said in an interview with the BBC.
Parry recalled that she attempted to make a claim on her policy when part of her car was stolen. In order to make the claim, she had to take pictures of the vehicle. When the company saw the stickers, it asked her to explain in 10 days why they were not informed about the stickers when she took out the insurance cover.
"These modifications do not fit our acceptance criteria for motor insurance," Age UK said in a letter addressed to Rev. Parry. "[C]over would have been declined if we had been made aware of these at the time of purchasing your policy."
"The policy may be declared void," Age UK concluded.
Age UK denied the accusation of discrimination.
"The situation regarding Reverend Parry's claim was in no way related to the Christian nature of her graphics," Age UK's spokesperson said.
She also told the BBC that their insurer Ageas Insurance Ltd. have looked into the circumstances of how Rev Parry took out the policy, and concluded that "[Age UK's] request to declare all modifications was not made clear enough to Rev Parry. Therefore she did not know which vehicle enhancements should have been declared."
