Insurance is a financial product. Buying insurance can protect you against financial loss. It will pay out money if you lot are too ill to run, or it volition provide for your family unit if you pass away.

When yous buy insurance, y’all take out an insurance policy. This is a contract betwixt you too the insurance society (the insurer).

Your policy agency yous are protected against losing money inwards sure situations. Thisprotection is called embrace. Your insurance policy document will listing just what you are protected against, together with how much money yous will be paid. It volition also list what you lot are not protected against.

You will make regular payments for your policy to the insurer. This is commonly every calendar month or every year. These payments are called premiums. How much they are volition depend on your state of affairs in addition to the type of embrace you demand.

If the event or state of affairs you are protected against happens, y’alltin can contact your insurer to make a claim on your insurance policy.

If your policy covers the state of affairs you are claiming for, your insurer volition give y’all coin. This is called a payout.

If you already have a health job earlier buying insurance, insurers phone call this a pre-existing status. Your policy may say that yous must declare any pre-existingmedical atmospheric condition. If it does, y’all volition need to say your insurer if yous are living with cancer or have had cancer.

You may live asked some hard questions virtually your health. Or y’all may live asked to have a medical exam. While unfair discrimination is illegal, insurers tin can care for a mortal differently if their medical condition means they are more than probable to make a claim. But they tin can exclusively do this if the assessment of your take a chance of claiming is based on relevant prove. Insurers volitionneed to show they have got this.

You should not have got problems getting insurance that is not related to your health, such every bit dwelling insurance.

You tin can telephone call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 and speak to our fiscal guides team near insurance, including if you wishing to brand a charge.

When you lot speak to insurers, you lot may be asked some difficultor upsetting questions almost your health. For instance, they may inquire well-nigh the likely outcome of your cancer (prognosis). This tin can sometimes appear insensitive. However, insurers may demand to do this to determine whether they are able to offering y’all a policy, together with how much it volition toll.

Depending on how you lot feel when talking most the cancer, yous may find it easier to contact alone one or 2 companies at a time. Or you lot could contact an insurance broker or financial adviser who can exercise the enquiryfor yous.

Preparing for questions

Private medicine insurance (PMI) covers acute medical conditions. There can live confusion most whether cancer is an needlelike medical condition or not.

Macmillan Cancer support has worked with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to make for sure PMI insurers hold assort department that explicate the cover for cancer using agreed examples. You volition need to cheque the wording of the policy. It may be helpful to talk over it with the insurer.

You must get the insurer’s approving for whatsoevercourse of study of handling earlier it goes ahead. If not, the insurer may refuse to pay.

If your situation way yous are more than likely than the average soul to brand an insurance claim, this can bear on what an insurer will offering yous. An insurer may practise 1 of the following.

You may detect it helpful to write downward the contact details of each provider you speak to, too some of the of import aspects of each policy. You can compare the excess costs together withthe quotes that dissimilar providers give yous. This may help yous make up one’s mind on the best insurance policy for your state of affairs.

Cancer is recognised past law equally a disability.

• If you lot live inward England, Scotland or Wales, yous are protected by the Equality Act 2010.
• If y’all live inwardNorthern Republic of Ireland, yous are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

These acts make it illegal to treat people differently because of a disability. They protect yous against discrimination fifty-fifty after yous hold been successfully treated for cancer. But there are unlike rules for insurance.

An insurer tin treat a soul alongside a disability differently if the disability increases the run a risk of them making a claim. But they tin can solely practice this if:

• the assessment of your hazard of claiming is based on relevant information
• the information is from a reliable beginning, such as statistical data or medical reports
• the way the insurer treats the soul is reasonable, given the information available.

If the insurer is challenged, they hold to provide show to exhibit thatthey hold met these weather condition.

For info too back up most unfair discrimination because of cancer, contact:

• the Equality Advisory Support Service if y’all alive inwards England, Scotland and Wales
• the Equality Commission for Northern Republic of Ireland if yous alive inwards Northern Republic of Ireland.

A cancer diagnosis can impact the cost ofbuying travel insurance. When buying go insurance, you need to bank check whether the policy will embrace claims related to pre-existing medical conditions, including cancer. There are some companies that specialise inward providing this sort of locomote insurance.

We have got a travel insurance checklist which includes examples of things your insurer power want to know, too things y’all mightiness want to know.

An insurer broker or fiscal adviser can help youcompare wellness insurance plans from unlike providers. When y’all are choosing a broker or adviser, e’er cheque that they are reliable as well as trustworthy. The British Insurance Broker’s association has a listing of brokers. You tin can call them on 0370 950 1790, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

If you hold further questions most cancer insurance plans, yous can phone call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 and speak to our fiscal guides team.

The Macmillan Support Line is a complimentary together with confidential telephone service for people living together with affected past cancer. If you lot need to verbalise, we’ll listen.