Insurers will not be able to use genetic testing to set premiums until 2010, it was revealed today.

A moratorium on the use of genetic testing by insurers, set in 2001, was extended for a further five years following negotiations between the ABI and the Department of Health.

The extension will help quash concerns that genetic testing of hereditary diseases will create an "underclass of uninsurable individuals," according to reports.

Genetic testing will continue to be permitted for insurers selling life insurance policies worth over £500,000.

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