Unfair denial of life insurance for cancer patients

Wed, 18 Oct 2006

Thousands of people throughout the UK who suffer from cancer have been denied life insurance, despite advances in medical technology that improve survival rates .

Insurance companies are apparently unwilling to consider new technologies that make all the difference when it comes to life insurance, and are either flat refusing or massively overcharging many cancer patients for life insurance. The situation, as well as putting the uninsured under massive stress, also puts many people’s homes at risk.

For those women who have breast cancer, the problem can be particularly pronounced. Anna Woods, an expert from Breast Cancer Care, said: "Insurance companies are not always taking the impact of new medicines into account. New treatments are increasing survival rates all the time and the companies are not keeping track enough."

New technology is making major advances in the breast cancer field, with new drugs such as Herceptin and Arimidex having a major impact on survival rates. Conversely, the popular insurer Standard Life recently increased the amount of time a woman has to be free of the disease before they will provide life cover from five years to ten years.

The MD of specialist broker Totally Insured, Roy Moonsinghe, said: "Nine out of 10 people who come to us have been turned down by one insurer or another, while for the others the terms offered are not affordable. To a sufferer, this ludicrous situation feels like you're being taxed for having breast cancer. There is simply no excuse for this kind of behaviour from insurers who should know better."

Some conditions do unfortunately often preclude life cover, including other forms of cancer, diabetes, depression, testicular cancer and kidney diseases.
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