To most of us, the small print in insurance contracts represents a contortion of the English language. It should be no surprise then that the industry is playing games in its new stance on genetic testing and life assurance.

The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) this week trumpeted its decision not to take into account the results of "approved" genetic tests for those looking for life cover of up to £300,000 (€381,000); above this level, all bets are off. Two things come to mind. In a situation where the industry advises that people should have between 10 and 14 times salary in life cover - even before the recent explosive rise in mortgage costs as house prices escalate - £300,000 is not as large a sum as it might seem at first glance. Second, what is so special about the £300,000 figure?

One commentator cut through the linguistic gymnastics to put the situation in perspective: "For the most part, insurers want to use any available information to avoid high-risk customers." More interesting is that the IIF produced its code in the same week that the British government's Human Genetics Commission surprised British insurers by recommending an immediate moratorium on the use of such tests by the industry for at least three years on policies under £500,000. It said self-regulation by the industry had failed and there currently appeared to be no satisfactory means on monitoring and enforcing its own code. Sounds like the IIF needs to work on its timing.