The Association of British Insurers has released its first annual report on the Code on Genetic Testing and Insurance, originally introduced back in 2001, designed to protect insureds from having to reveal the results of predictive or diagnostic genetic testing to access some insurance. It shows that over 5000 genetic test results were shared with insurers in 2018.

The report follows an overview of a compliance exercise carried out by the ABI to assess how the code is operating, as well as an overview of the key developments in insurance over the last year. It sits alongside the Government’s Annual Report which includes information on the genomics policy landscape.

Under the code, insurers must not require or pressure customers to have a predictive or diagnostic genetic test, under any circumstances; or to ask for or take into account the result of a predictive genetic test when a customer is applying for insurance. However, the code does not apply if someone is applying for life insurance over £500,000 and has had a predictive genetic test for Huntington’s Disease.

The report shows that in 2018, 5054 genetic tests were reported to insurers, up from 4125 the year before. This is made up of 1937 predictive results, 2779 diagnostic results and 338 others.

Under the terms of the Code, insurers can ask for, and use the diagnostic test results reported to them. The only time a predictive test may be used by an insurer is when a test result provided voluntarily mitigates an adverse family history, usually to the benefit of the consumer by way of a lower premium, or for an excepted test over the financial limits.

The report notes that the increasing trend in diagnostic tests is a more reliable measure as diagnostic tests are disclosed as a matter of course during underwriting, whereas insurance applicants can decide whether or not to disclose predictive test results.

The data does not however breakdown the number of predictive genetic test results to show how many were inadvertently disclosed and so ignored and how many were used to benefit the consumer by mitigating an adverse family history. The ABI said that it will aim to improve this data in future annual reports.

ABI director of policy, long term savings and protection, Yvonne Braun said: “Our first report also looks at how the fast-paced developments in genomic medicine might affect insurance in the future. Our sector will manage such impacts working in partnership with Government.”

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