To What Extent Have The Attitudes of Senior Management in The UK Insurance Companies Developed in The Light of Changes in Genetics Technology in The Last Decade?

In 1984, a twenty-year international science project namely Human Genome Project (HGP) was initiated to map the overall genetic structure of the human species. The findings of HGP threw a new light into genetic tests, which attracted the interest of employers, bankers and insurers in most developed countries. Thus, genetic tests became a precondition for the attainment of certain benefits like bank loan, employment and insurance. As a result, a lot of pressure groups in different countries started condemning the use of genetic information by some service providers. The fear of many was a possible creation of uninsured 'underclass'. The outcry of stakeholders led to the enactment of legislations and voluntary agreements such as the moratorium in the U.K. The Human Genetics Advisory Commission (HGAC), a non-statutory advisory body formed by the UK government to report on the various genetics developments conducted a survey among the insurance industry to ascertain the implication of genetic testing for life insurance in 1997. There have been a lot of changes in genetics technology since the study was conducted ten years ago including the two moratoria in 2001 and 2005 in the UK. This project was conducted to ascertain the extent to which the attitudes of senior managements of UK insurance have developed in the light of the changes in genetics technology. Therefore the questions for the previous study were replicated in this project except for a few interpolations. In conducting the research, existing theoretical and conceptual framework on the subject matter was reviewed. This was followed by the use of qualitative research approach to collect the primary data for this project. An Open-ended questionnaire was therefore used to collect the data from some senior underwriters in the long-term insurance sector. The responses were analysed and compared with that of the previous study in 1997. Based on the responses, a conclusion was drawn regarding the extent to which the attitudes of senior management of the insurance have developed in the light of changes in genetics technology in the last decade