Tests dropped two years too late

Who should insurers curse for the mix-up over using genetic information for costing health and life insurance premiums? (see cover story). Four of the seven diseases that the ABI previously allowed insurers to test for have suddenly been excluded by the insurers' trade body. It has now decided those tests are not reliable to use anymore.

The ABI may have acted in haste in including these four tests in its genetic code, which it formed

two years ago. But what was the alternative? The government has been slow to set guidelines. The result is that thousands of policyholders may have been sold premiums at too high a price. They need

to be refunded the difference. Accountants will have a field day.