Why won’t insurers cover cancer patients?

We should campaign to change the law so that the only question the insurers should be allowed to ask is, was your illness diagnosed before or after your booked your holiday? If the answer is after, we are insured, and it shouldn’t be difficult on our part to produce/request documents from the hospital or whomever to prove it.

I agree with Sophie we should start a campaign to change the law. I was diagnosed with leukaemia 3 years ago. I had a multi trip policy which had not expired and the insurer honered the cover for our next holiday (I did not record the call or claim however so I have no evidence they would have honoured their promise) When I came to insure the following year it was very difficult basically just got cover for baggage. There are so many different forms of cancer there cannot be on blanket approach by insurers. ETA were good this year but it is a huge issue which is not being made transparent or easy by insurers. Get a campaign started.

Hi
Yes this is another case of a rip off & discrimination by the insurance companies if the patient is unwell they would not travel any way.

I have the same problem with high blood pressure. A lot of insurers hike up the premium and some will not even offer cover. I am stable on medication and have no health problems due to high BP. If I went around the plane with a blood pressure monitor I think I might find a large number of travellers who are not even aware they have high blood pressure and therefore present a higher risk of becoming unwell, yet because I am on medication to lower BP to normal – I am punished financially.

It is about time insurance companies play fair. Like Karen, my wife has High blood pressure and the insurance is hiked up. Totally unfair being punished because we have bothered to keep ourselves medically checked out. Surey those who are not on tablets are a much higher risk than those that are on tablets. ALSO, there are various levels of high blood pressure, my wife being border line for taking tablets, is treated the same as someone who could be knocking on the door for having a heart attack, yet the computer has only one level!
Plus I had a very tiny amount of Prostate cancer 8 years ago, but I still asked for my prostate to be removed. Insurance companies just heard the words “prostate cancer” some would not cover at all (as if I was going to die that year) some said they would NOT cover me for prostate cancer or related illness. Fine I said as I do not have a prostate anymore, but they WOULD NOT tell me what the “related illness’s” were, or why they contradict my consultant who gave me the all clear as the cancer was very small.
ALSO, once an annual contract of insurance is entered into surely this is what it is, an insurance for all health issues for the whole year, What other company can change the fees or pull out halfway through a contract?
With so many possible reasons for insurance companies not to honour the contract, such as an illness 20 years ago you may have forgotten, would it be best to allow these companies to have access to medical records so they can accurately assess the real risk and give cover.
Sorry to rant on, but this just winds me up every year when policy renewal comes around.

Cancer for many is a medically controlled condition and is unlikely to cause an emergency of the kind that insurers usually associate as ‘risk’. Perhaps Which? could use its Super Complaint powers to have the Actuarial assessments that Insurance companies use to assess cancer as a risk, exposed to the public together with some facts and figures on claims experience that insurance companies have suffered to justify the astronomic premiums requested. That is of course if they will insure the ‘risk’ at all. Many will not.

I booked insurance with Mondial when I booked flights with easy jet for Sept.coming.
Mondial allowed 14 days to cancel if we wanted to. After the fourteen days were up we both had diagnosis of conditions which obviously might effect the ins,tho not immediately life threatening.
I phoned the co. and was told “you would be covered for any claim made as a result of a condition diagnosed after the fourteen days were up”.
I emailed them for written confirmation of this and they would not confirm..Nor would they accept my request to cancel the agreement and issue a refund.

Has this ever been challenged in the courts? To me, the behaviour of Insurance companies is clearly a breach of contract. They accept a risk for a given term, based on the known situation at the beginning of the term. They know, from the start, that the risk may become a reality within the term and, therefore, their evasion is illegal.
No doubt, somewhere in the small print, there is a statement which allows them to practice these evasions legally. If so then it is, undoubtably, an unfair practice and therefore a matter for the Office of Fair Trading, or at the very least a basis for a Which? super complaint.

And what about this nebulous ‘Act of God’. To the true believer, everything is an Act of God, including the onset of a serious health problem. To the unbeliever, there is no such thing as an Act of God. I suspect that most insurers are unbelievers. The use of the term ‘Act of God’ should be banned in the insurance world.

The insurance companies should be forced to comply with the fundamental definition of ‘providing insurance’, as ‘providing compensation against a genuinely unforeseen event’.

Agree with all comments made. This area requires in-depth further investigation. I am on medication for overactive bladder and anxiety and consequently, cost of insurance was doubled. Really fail to see how going to the WC less and being less anxious poses a risk when travelling/on holiday!

Should someone not be able to do a check on how many claims are made regarding illness which has been covered with extra cost to see if this is just a way for insurance companies to increase there profits. I think that it would be found that little if no claims are made. The insurance companies should be made to honour the original contract as anyone does not know what lies ahead in the future regarding health or antthing else in life.

It does need looking at. I am in remission for breast cancer it has been 5 years now and I am still hit hard with extra insurance to pay when going on holidays. Their is no way that there is going to be a problem arising in the time I am away, unless you are terminal ill.

Further to my previous comment, some days back, I have subsequently learnt from TV that approximately 40% of the population could develop a form of cancer at some stage. If this is incorrect, please correct me. Also that tall people are more likely to develop the disease than short people.The population as a whole is growing taller in each generation. The insurance companies have most probably noted this opportunity and hope to profit from it. Cancer patients do not usually travel for pleasure when they are ill, or at risk. they mainly travel when it is quiescent, hence very little risk to the insurers. If one could establish the facts, a case of cancer that has not as yet been diagnosed is most probably a higher risk than a diagnosed case. But this is too good a profit taking opportunity to be missed.

I have had a similar problem with annual insurance for my husband who is diabetic. The insurance had the holiday had both been paid for and then his medication was changed so the insurance company told me he was not covered for that condition. We took out the insurance in good faith but now wounder what is the point!

It is the same for heart patients . I have been ripped off with the dental too by NHS not allowing IV sedation causing anaethetists to not take the risk . Not only here but abroad. Private Medical also rips off because you are not allowed to claim unless a GP on contract to ration may discriminate by not referring. As a consequence had cardiac arrest when evidence ignored so had never been referred to a cardiologist. Yet the Insurance continued to take monthly contributions whilst Financial Ombudsman knew this.

Thanks very much for your help but I just went online to try them and it seems that its the same insurance underwriter as the co-op use. The questions were in the same format and the result was the same. ‘We cannot insure you’

My Consultant is happy for me to travel I take a new drug that is keeping my cancer ‘at bay’ and I have been stable for 20 months now.

This is an ongoing “grouse” of mine and having read the update on Travel Insurance in Which this month, felt compelled to write. Both my husband and I are on medication for high blood pressure and statins, as a precaution, for cholestrol. We both have to pay excess on our Annual Travel Insurance, yet we are in a better state of health than a lot of people who have not seen a Doctor in years. Should we then stop taking prescribed medication and rely on our lower cost Insurance to cover us on holiday ? It seems to me we are penalised for having regular health checks. Maybe the question asked at medical screening should be “When did you last have a medical check” and the added cost be put on those who do not know the state of their health. It also suprises me that there is such a variation in the excess, from provider to provider. Surely the time has come for some sort of price regulation.

Is it not the time for the government or the NHS to run an insurance scheme or subsidise payments for people who take part in government, NHS screening programs to detect early signs of cancers etc, afterall if people did not participate in screening they would not find out that there was a problem because in most cases there are no signs of ant problem until screening takes place.
This is someone speaking from experience as I did not have any signs of a problem until I took part in bowel screening program after booking my holiday only to find out that I needed surgery to remove a part of my bowel due to cancer.

I can identify with John Marshall. I had knee replacement surgery performed on my right knee. The post op anticoagulant uncovered a silent malignant tumour in my lower bowel. I had it removed. I then had concomitant radio and chemo therapy,and as I am now taking a long course of chemotherapy in tablet form at home , to reduce the risk of a recurrence, my travel insurers are proving difficult. Cancer is not like a heart attack, it does not strike out of the blue. There is no reason not to cover cancer in the policy. It is a policy that is attached to a bank account, free until 70 and then a premium. This amounts to over £170 for the two of us and excludes anything related to cancer. What risk am I incurring going away for a mere two weeks ?

Just over 12 months ago I had surgery to remove a malignant tumour from my bowel. I then underwent Radio and Chemotherapy for many months. I have subsequently had a post treatment MRI and CT Scan. Both have reported that there is no longer any evidence of recurrent or residual disease. I am now cancer free. Despite this my travel Insurer will not reinstate my travel insurance in full. They have informed me that they will only review my situation on the anniversary of my policy in November. Review dos not necessarily imply that it will be in full.

I feel that this is grossly unfair. Being cancer free I should now be treated in the same manner as any other person insured. In fact I am a better risk as I will be closely observed by my surgeon for at least five years, which makes me a better risk than some one with underlying cancer who has not been diagnosed.

This is discrimination. It is time that the government intervened.

This is a followup to my published comment above on 1 December 2011.

WHY is there no agency taking on these Travel Insurance companies? I was diagnosed with prostate cancer from a PSA blood test 10 years ago. ONE from eight biopsy test proved positive, very small cancer and I had my prostate removed. When I went to renew my Travel insurance companies were saying “we will not cover you for prostate cancer, or related illness”!!! I reminded them I did not have a prostate anymore, what is a related illness, and why are they telling me I was high risk when my doctor told me I was clear? Unfortunately the computer could not answer these questions!!
Now my wife was been diagnosed with breast cancer 2013 and her surgery removed the tumor and lymph node. She has been told it was all removed and had not spread. She is now going through chemo and then radiotherapy to make doubly sure it should not come back. OK, it resulted in 3 holidays being cancelled (deposits only) and insurance company has paid out as diagnosis was after we took out insurance. WHAT will they do at renewal? All the comments above give a strong indication.
What is really annoying, my wife and I have health checks, and are now on cholesterol tablets and my wide on blood pressure tablets. SURELY we are LOW risk compared to anyone overweight, or not having health checks. We are being monitored every year and taking tablets to control the condition, BUT we have to pay an extra premium as if we could drop dead within months!
Does anyone know of anyone that died of cancer related illness when they were on holiday??
With insurance companies using any excuse to increase premiums, or not covering an illness that will not kill you on holiday, or should not need a hospital visit, is immoral! There is a higher chance of falling and breaking a bone than needing treatment for cancer when on holiday.
I would be happy for any insurance company to have access to my medical records, or my Doctor, if it means they can be more realistic when refusing cover or suggesting it was not a disclosed illness.
Surely someone in government can take on the travel insurance business. We ARE NOT a risk once diagnosed with a cancer illness. We ARE a risk before being diagnosed with ANY illness!
That’s it, off my soap box!!