Cancer and Life Insurance

There is a common belief that half of the population in the UK born after 1960 will eventually experience some type of cancer, leading to tragic outcomes for families.

Women face the greatest lifetime risk of breast, lung, and bowel cancers, while men have the highest lifetime risk of prostate, lung, and bowel cancers.

So, it’s little wonder why so many people wish to take out financial protection against the impact cancer would have, and life insurance can be part of that.

There are around 375,000 new cancer cases each year in Britain, so understandably, people want to know whether life insurance covers cancer.

Some cancers have a better chance of being prevented (source Cancer Research UK):

• Around 4 in 10 UK cancer cases every year could be prevented, that’s more than 135,000 every year.

• Nearly 112,000 England cases, around 13,000 Scotland cancer cases, around 7,200 Wales cancer cases, and around 3,500 Northern Ireland cancer cases every year could be prevented.

• Lung cancer, bowel cancer, melanoma skin cancer, and breast cancer together account for almost two-thirds of all preventable cancer cases in the UK.

• For 10 cancer types, including two of the five most common cancer types in the UK (lung cancer and melanoma skin cancer), more than 70% of UK cancer cases were attributable to known risk factors.

• Smoking is the largest cause of cancer in the UK.

• Overweight and obesity is the UK’s biggest cause of cancer after smoking.

• Overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, exposure to certain substances at work,

exposure to certain infections, drinking alcohol, and eating too little fibre each cause 3-4% of cancer cases in the UK.

• Exposure to ionising radiation and eating processed meat each cause 1-2% of cancer cases in the UK.

• Exposure to outdoor air pollution and doing too little physical activity each cause 1% or less of cancer cases in the UK.

Can you get a Life Insurance policy if you have had cancer?

This is a question I get asked a number of times, and also a subject close to my own heart.

While cancer can make it more challenging to get a life insurance policy, it’s not impossible. It is dependent on the details of your illness and how long ago you completed your treatment.

A life insurance company will ask a number of additional questions in order to find out as much as possible about your diagnosis, as well as write to your doctor.

Your answers about your cancer diagnosis along with your doctor's report will be assessed to work out whether you will be accepted for life insurance or not.

Does life insurance cover cancer?

Most life insurance policies cover cancer-related deaths, provided that the applicant answered the medical underwriting questions honestly when applying for the policy.

However, a small percentage (2-4%) of claims are denied, with the majority being due to non-disclosure of pre-existing medical conditions during the application process.

Non-disclosure refers to withholding relevant information when applying for the policy. It is crucial to always truthfully answer health-related questions to prevent the risk of a claim being denied.

What questions will a life insurance company ask about my cancer?

Cancer is a condition where cells can grow and reproduce uncontrollably in many parts of the body so there will be additional questions an insurance company will ask. It will also depend on the location and severity of the cancer you have had.

Some of the key questions which are asked relating to your cancer are:

• How long ago was your diagnosis?

• What were the results of any recent tests or scans?

• Where is the cancer and has it spread?

• Are you currently receiving treatment and, if not, when will you receive it?

• What medication are you taking?

The reason an insurance company asks so many more additional questions is because an insurance company needs to understand whether it is more likely to pay a claim due to your history of cancer.

So, while it may feel intrusive, it is helpful to share as much information as possible to ensure you are provided with a fair and thorough assessment based on your unique circumstances.

How does cancer impact life insurance premiums?

Having a history of cancer may mean that your life insurance premiums may be higher than what is initially quoted before underwriting takes place, but this is not always the case as life insurance premiums are calculated according to the risk of an early claim.

If the likelihood of your premature death is increased then usually, you may be required to pay more for your life insurance.

Choosing a fixed term life insurance (for example until you reach age 65) means that the life insurance pays out only if you die before you reach 65. So, the type of life insurance you buy and how long you buy it for, will have an impact on the premium.

If you have suffered a form of cancer in the past, then there are four possible outcomes to your life insurance application:

• accepted with no increase applied to your monthly premiums.

• accepted with an increase applied to your monthly premiums.

• application postponed.

• application declined.

Can I get life insurance if I have previously been declined for cancer?

The simple answer is Yes, it is possible to get life insurance if you have previously been declined life insurance, however, it will depend on a number of factors.

Being declined for having previously suffered from cancer does not automatically mean you will be declined by every life insurance company.

Every insurance company assess risk differently according to their own unique set of underwriting guidelines based on specific diagnosis and recovery. So where one company might decline your application, another will accept it.

All life insurance applications will include a question about whether you have previously been declined for life insurance, do not worry if you have to answer yes to this question. The purpose of the question is usually only to highlight non-disclosure, where an applicant may hide the facts of their medical history.

Having a family history of cancer, will this affect me?

If you have a family history of cancer, it may be worth taking out life insurance. This would protect your family and finances in case you become ill.

Obtaining life cover could be dependent on some of the following:

• Which family member - life insurance applications only ask you about your immediate family, which is your birth parents and any natural siblings, so you do not usually have to disclose information about aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.

• Their age when they were diagnosed with cancer - you will usually only be asked about incidences of cancer if your relative was diagnosed with cancer before the age of 65, later diagnosis is usually irrelevant.

• The type of cancer your family member had - some types of cancer have strong genetic characteristics, and these may be of more interest to a life insurance company.

• If there is more than one person in your family with a similar cancer history - more than one immediate family member with the same type of cancer diagnosis before the age of 65 could mean that you will need to be selective about which life insurance company to apply with.

If you have a family history of cancer, you will usually still be accepted for life insurance cover, but you will need to be selective about which life insurance company to apply with. Most life insurance companies will not increase the cost of your life cover based on a family history disclosure of cancer, but some may, and you will wish to avoid these.

Can I get life insurance if I have terminal cancer?

Unfortunately, life insurance is usually unavailable if you have been diagnosed with terminal cancer as this suggests that your chances of survival are low. You may, however, qualify for Over 50s life insurance.

This type of life insurance that does not assess your medical health but you should be aware that some of these types of life insurance policies come with a qualifying period of between 12 and 36 months during which time, if death happened, the insurance provider may only return the premiums that you have paid.

If you already have life insurance, you should check your current life cover policy for terminal illness benefit as this usually allows policyholders to claim the death benefit early if a medical consultant confirms they have less than 12 months to live.