Life insurance pays out a lump sum if you die during the life of your policy. This means that when you apply for a policy, insurers will make a prediction about how likely it is you'll die during that time. This is so they can work out how much of a risk you are to insure – and therefore how much it should cost.

If you’ve ever been diagnosed with cancer, this is something insurers will consider carefully during the ‘underwriting’ process that all applications go through. Some applications can be accepted automatically, after answering a set of questions about your health and lifestyle, but if you’ve had cancer, it’s likely that your application would be handed over to a (human) underwriter for review.

Depending on a number of factors about the cancer diagnosis you disclose, you might find it more difficult or more expensive to get insured. In many cases, insurers will choose to postpone the decision until a certain amount of time has passed – e.g. two years after treatment is completed.

Can you buy life insurance if you've had cancer or have cancer?

You can always apply for life insurance, even if you’ve had cancer in the past or currently have cancer – though the success of your application will vary from insurer to insurer based on the nature of your condition. When you apply for life insurance, you always have to answer questions about your health and lifestyle, which includes questions around your:

  • Personal health history
  • Family health history
  • Height and weight (BMI)
  • Smoking status

Having had a cancer diagnosis could affect whether or not the insurer accepts your application, but you can always apply and, more often than not, buy cover. Getting help from an adviser can really help if you’ve had a cancer diagnosis, as they’ll quickly be able to filter out the insurers most likely to accept your application, who will offer the best terms for you and your circumstances.

Anorak tips:

Everyone wants to protect their family's financial future – even (and especially) if they've had health problems in the past. Having cancer could make it tricky to get health-related cover in place, like income protection and critical illness cover. It's highly likely an exclusion would be placed on your policy around your particular diagnosis.

However, you should be able to get life cover in place – but it depends on the timing. Insurers won't cover you if you're currently undergoing treatment, and most insurers will require 5 years of remission before offering you a policy.

At Anorak, our team of advisers is here to help you find the most suitable insurers and policies for you – whatever your circumstances. If you’ve had or have cancer, they’ll guide you to getting the right cover in place.

What will insurers need to know about your cancer diagnosis?

If you’ve had a cancer diagnosis, it’s likely you’ll be required to provide the following during the underwriting process:

  • The location and type of cancer you were diagnosed with
  • How long ago you completed treatment and went into remission
  • Whether the cancer spread to any other part of your body
  • The classification (if known)

Depending on the type of cancer you were diagnosed with, insurers might ask you for extra info – e.g. if you had breast cancer, they’ll ask about the tumour size, tumour grade, and whether any maintenance treatment was prescribed.

How will a cancer diagnosis affect your life insurance application?

Typically, there are a few possible outcomes when you apply for life insurance but disclose a pre-existing health condition like cancer. These include:

  1. Your application being accepted as normal, with standard pricing rates (i.e. the same as they’d be for someone who hasn’t had cancer)
  2. Your application being accepted but with a ‘loading’ on the price (i.e. your rates will be between 50% and 150% higher than they would be for someone who hasn’t had cancer)
  3. Your application being accepted but with an exclusion in the policy conditions (i.e. relating to your specific diagnosis)
  4. Your application decision being postponed (this happens if the insurer thinks your diagnosis poses too much of a risk right now, but has the potential to improve in the future)
  5. Your application being declined (this happens if the insurer thinks your diagnosis means you’ll always be too high risk to insure)

Why you should always disclose your cancer diagnosis

When applying for life insurance, it’s extremely important to answer all the health questions honestly. If you don’t disclose that you’ve had cancer, even if you’ve been in remission for a long time, you risk invalidating your policy and it not paying out in the future, when you need it to.

Does life insurance pay out if you die of cancer?

Yes, life insurance would pay out if you die of cancer while you're insured. The only reason it wouldn't pay out for this cause is if there was an exclusion added to your policy because of your medical history, or you weren't accurate about your health and lifestyle when you applied for cover. For more information, read our guide to when life insurance does and doesn't pay out.

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  • You can apply for life insurance even if you’ve had a cancer diagnosis recently or in the past
  • If you have or have had cancer, you must disclose it during the application process, otherwise you risk invalidating your policy in the future
  • If you disclose your cancer diagnosis while applying for life insurance, extra medical information will be required from you during the underwriting process
  • Depending on several factors, including what type of cancer you had and how long ago, insurers may accept your application as normal; accept it but charge a higher premium; add an exclusion; or postpone or decline it
    • What does life insurance cover? Does life insurance always pay out? Glossary of life insurance terms
    Can you claim on your life insurance for cancer?
    Yes, any cause of death is covered by life insurance, so your life insurance payout could be claimed if you die from cancer. The only reason your life insurance wouldn’t pay out is if you misrepresented your health history when you applied or an particular exclusion was added to your policy based on your health history.
    Do you have to inform the life insurer if you have cancer?
    Yes, you have to disclose your health history when applying for life insurance. This includes telling them about a cancer diagnosis – whether it was recent or a long time ago. It’s very important to be completely honest when providing information about your health, otherwise you risk invalidating a future claim.
    What happens to my life insurance if I get cancer?
    If you’re diagnosed with cancer when you already have a policy in place, your life insurance won’t be affected. Once your life insurance terms are agreed, the insurer can’t change them. Insurers only need to know about your health history prior to taking out life cover, including any previous cancer diagnoses.