Genetic testing and insurance underwriting

Genetic testing sits at an uncomfortable intersection. Insurance underwriting works by pricing known risk, and a predictive genetic result is information about risk. At the same time, there is a strong public policy argument that people should not be discouraged from taking a test that could benefit their health because of what it might do to their insurance. Different countries have resolved that tension in different ways, and New Zealand’s position has been under active discussion.

What can be said clearly is this. Insurers do not currently require an applicant to undergo genetic testing as a condition of applying. Where testing has already been done and you know the result, the general duty of disclosure is the framework that applies, and that duty is broad. What is contested is the extent to which insurers should be able to ask for and use predictive results, and that debate has produced proposals for change.

Because this is live, treat anything you read about it — including this page — as a description of the position at a point in time rather than a settled rule. Ask a licensed adviser what the current position is before you apply, and before you decide anything about testing.

Three things are worth separating, because they are frequently confused with one another.

• Family history. Asked on essentially every application, independently of any testing, and unaffected by this debate.
• Diagnostic testing done because you already have symptoms or a diagnosis. That is part of your medical record like any other investigation.
• Predictive testing done in the absence of symptoms. This is the contested category, and the one where the rules have been in question.

What insurers currently do

• They ask about your family history in every case.
• They do not require you to take a test.
• They may ask about tests already taken, and the general duty of disclosure applies to what you know.
• They obtain your medical records with your consent, and a result recorded there will be visible.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• That family history is asked regardless, and is not part of the contested question.
• That a result recorded in your medical notes may be visible to an underwriter through the ordinary records process.
• That the position is currently under discussion and may not be the same when you next apply.
• That insurers do not require testing as a condition of an application.
• That anything written on this topic has a short shelf life, including this page.

Every New Zealand insurer writes applications where genetic information is in question to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.

• This is the clearest example on the site of a question where you need the current position rather than a general one.
• An adviser can tell you what each insurer is currently asking and how each currently treats the answer.
• Where a family history is strong, an adviser can compare how differently insurers weight it.
• An adviser can pre-assess anonymously so that exploring the question does not create an application record.

There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.

The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.

• An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
• An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
• An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
• An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.

We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.

1. 1

   You tell us what you are looking at

   The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.

2. 2

   An adviser calls you

   A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.

3. 3

   They compare the market

   The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.

4. 4

   You decide, in your own time

   There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.