BNP Paribas Assurance facilitates access to insurance for paraplegics.

September 15, 2009

BNP Paribas Assurance has taken measures to facilitate access to creditor insurance for people suffering from physical disabilities, in particular paraplegics¹.

Some 30,000 people are afflicted by paraplegia in France and 2,000 new cases are reported each year.

Intensive research in recent years has enabled a better understanding of this condition and better care and support for paraplegics. Furthermore, paraplegics and people with physical disabilities benefit from broader social and professional inclusion.

The number of people with disabilities (including all categories of disabilities) who have found employment during the past 20 years has been multiplied by a factor of 16 (from 7,000 in 1987 to 111,000 in 2006).

To encourage inclusion of paraplegics in society while addressing the challenges they face, BNP Paribas Assurance is taking these facts into account and adjusting the terms for creditor insurance policies, as well as the rates.

“We formed a cross-disciplinary work group comprising a consulting physician, healthcare professionals, medical review specialists and specialists in claims management from BNP Paribas Assurance,” explains Dr. Philippe Sulzer, chief consulting physician for the insurance company.
“ We carried out an in-depth analysis of traumatic medullary lesions, using statistics in disability trends and studies on medical advances. In conjunction with this the work group analyzed claims filed with the company.”

Rates and supplementary coverage aligned with changes in the status of paraplegics

BNP Paribas Assurance now proposes more favorable insurance terms for paraplegics:

• A specific detailed medical questionnaire enables a more precise assessment of the actual insurability of each future policyholder.


• A special new rate structure reduces surcharges and provides access to additional coverage options such as work disability. The rates are calculated based on the severity of the disability, the individual’s degree of autonomy, the evolution of the disability, as well as the person’s degree of social and professional inclusion.

BNP Paribas Assurance is taking several concrete initiatives as part of efforts to facilitate access to insurance for vulnerable segments of the population2, and in the framework of France’s AERAS agreement to facilitate credit and insurance for people with major health risks:

• In-depth studies of risks due to pathologies related to disabilities.


• Application of this approach to other pathologies, including tetraplegics and people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, by 2010.


• Strengthening of its position as a specialist in ensuring major health risks.

¹: Paraplegia is paralysis of the lower half of the body, usually due to damage to the spinal cord.

²: See press release issued on March 31, 2008 (fr): “BNP Paribas Assurance announces measures to facilitate access to insurance for people with illnesses”.

About BNP Paribas Assurance
BNP Paribas Assurance (www.assurance.bnpparibas.com) is the Life and Property & Casualty insurance unit of BNP Paribas. It develops and markets products and services under two commercial brands. Products distributed through the BNP Paribas retail branch network in France are branded BNP Paribas. Those distributed by other channels in France and in international markets are branded Cardif. BNP Paribas Assurance is the world leader in creditor insurance and the fourth-largest life insurance company in France. Its life and non-life insurance units have received an AA rating from Standard & Poor’s. BNP Paribas Assurance is actively committed to exemplary Corporate Social Responsibility. It has adopted a Socially Responsible Investment program, encourages diversity throughout the enterprise (earning the "Equality at Work" label) and supports local economic development in the markets where it operates. BNP Paribas Assurance is equally committed to environmental responsibility, targeting a 10-percent reduction in the company's carbon emissions by 2010. It had gross written premiums of 16.1 billion euros in 2008. With operations in 41 countries, BNP Paribas Assurance generated 42% of its 2008 gross written premiums outside the BNP Paribas group and 37% of gross written premiums outside France. It counts 8,000 employees, 70% of them outside France.