Can I be denied insurance in Malta simply because of my age?

Insurance underwriting is fundamentally a risk-based process, and age is generally recognised as a legitimate, statistically relevant risk factor that insurers can take into account when assessing and pricing certain types of insurance, such as life insurance or health insurance, meaning some degree of age-related pricing or terms is not automatically unlawful discrimination in the same way that, for example, an entirely unrelated and arbitrary characteristic might be, provided the insurer's approach reflects genuine actuarial risk assessment rather than an arbitrary or disproportionate blanket exclusion. That said, Maltese law does also incorporate broader equality and non-discrimination principles, and the specific way an insurer applies age-related considerations should still be proportionate and genuinely justified by actual risk data rather than being an excessive or poorly justified blanket policy, meaning there can be a meaningful difference between legitimate risk-based age adjustments and a genuinely excessive or arbitrary approach that goes beyond what actual risk data would support. If you believe you've been treated in a way that seems disproportionate or poorly justified relative to your actual individual risk profile, rather than a reasonable, evidence-based age adjustment, it would be worth raising this directly with the insurer for a clear explanation, and if unsatisfied, this is the kind of issue that could potentially be raised with the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services or, depending on the specifics, the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE).