The Disability Discrimination Act

Discrimination takes place where a person with a disability is treated less favourably than others, for a reason which relates to the disability, and the less favourable treatment cannot be justified. There are additional definitions given which relate to the different provisions of the Act.

A person is described as having a disability in the Act when
"he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities".

what is mental impairment?
A mental impairment is described as a condition that is well recognised by the medical profession, that is more than a mood or mild eccentricity. Schizophrenia is specifically mentioned in the government's guidance to the Act as a qualifying condition. It is important to realise that this definition is different from the definition used in the Mental Health Act.

what do they mean by substantial, and long term?
The effect of the condition is substantial when it affects the time taken to carry out an activity in the way in which the activity is carried out and the effect goes beyond the normal differences that exist between people. The effect is long-term when it has either lasted at least 12 months, is expected to last 12 months or for the rest of a person's life if shorter. There are specific rules covering conditions which affect a person from time to time, where there are periods in-between when the person is not affected.

what are normal day to day activities?
The guidance that the government gives to the Act, states that no particular activity can be considered as normal, as different activities are considered normal for different groups of people. It goes on to say that a condition affects a person's day to day activities if it affects on of the following:

• mobility, manual dexterity, physical co-ordination
• continence
• ability to life, carry or otherwise move everyday objects
• speech, hearing or eyesight
• memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand
• perception of the risk of physical danger

what is not covered by the DDA?

There are some specific conditions that are excluded from the he definition of a disability:

• tendency to set fires, steal
• physical or sexual abuse of other people
• exhibitionism or voyeurism
• the effects of tattoos or piercings
• the effects of drug or alcohol abuse.

However, a person who has a qualifying condition in addition to one of these excluded conditions will still be covered.

what does the DDA cover?

The DDA covers discrimination by:

employers, service providers, landlords and people selling property, transport services & places of education

There are circumstances in which the Act permits justifiable discrimination. The circumstances are described in each section of the Act. To justify discrimination in employment the employer must be able to give a reason that relates to the person's disability and provide evidence for the particular case. It will not be enough to prove that the discrimination was for a reason not related to the person's disability or provide general evidence supporting the discrimination.

In the section relating to the provision of goods and services there are four reasons given for the justification of discrimination:

1. endangering health and safety - when providing the service to the person with the disability would endanger anyone's health and safety

2. lacking capacity to contract - when the person with the disability does not have the capacity to understand the consequences of entering into a contract

3. making the service available to others - when providing the service to the person with the disability would prevent others from receiving the service

4. passing on an extra cost - the service provider can pass additional costs on to the person with a disability when the modifications are in response to the person's requests.

The DDA and insurance
The DDA makes a specific exemption for providers of insurance. that is the person or company offering the insurance, not the broker of any other intermediate person. Insurance providers are allowed to provide insurance to a person with a disability on less favourable terms, provided the difference is based on relevant evidence from a reasonable source and that the difference is reasonable. In practice, companies may charge you more for insurance if there is evidence that the illness you have puts you at a higher risk of making a claim. The evidence they use is not necessarily specific to you but from research undertaken by other parties.

Example: You may have to pay more for life insurance if you have severe mental illness because evidence shows that people with severe mental illness have a shorter life expectancy.

Most insurance companies do not cover existing conditions on general policies. This is because it can be difficult to decide whether something has happened as a result of a person's existing condition, or, if a person has recovered and when they are no longer considered to be affected by the condition.

Many people have difficulty in buying common forms of insurance such as travel or motor insurance. Often if you declare that you have a severe mental health problem you will have to provide additional information and pay a higher premium. However, policies vary between companies and you should shop around to get the best terms.