Insurers to improve access to life cover for survivors of cancer

INSURANCE companies have committed to improving access to mortgage protection insurance for cancer survivors.

Insurance Ireland said this comes after talks with the Irish Cancer Society last summer regarding its 2021 report.

Controversy has erupted in the last few years after it emerged that cancer survivors are struggling to access life insurance years after recovering from the disease.

Insurance Ireland and its members announced a code of practice to improve access to mortgage protection insurance for cancer survivors.

It comes after the European Parliament called on all member states to ensure that by 2025 they introduce a Right to be Forgotten a maximum of 10 years after treatment ends.

A right to be forgotten means that after a time they would no longer have to tell insurance companies about their history.

The discussions with the Irish Cancer Society highlighted that many cancer survivors do not feel that they can access the necessary life cover in order to be obtain a mortgage.

Insurance Ireland and its members said they believe that the code will lead to a faster, more streamlined process for those impacted.

The approach is a pragmatic solution that balances the needs of cancer survivors without causing a reduction in availability of cover for other consumers, the lobby group for insurers said.

It insisted that, as things currently stand, it is not the case that all applicants who disclose a cancer diagnosis are automatically declined cover.

Many mortgage protection applications are accepted at either standard rates or with an additional cost, it added.

The new code provides cancer survivors with the right to be forgotten.

This means that insurers will disregard a cancer diagnosis where treatment ended more than seven years previous to their application, or more than five years if the applicant was under 18 at the time treatment stopped.

It also provides cover of up to €500,000 per cancer-surviving applicant in connection with a mortgage on a principal private residence.

Data from Insurance Ireland members shows that over 90pc of mortgage protection policies in Ireland are below €500,000.

Insurance Ireland said these are the minimum requirements for the application of the code of practice and an individual insurance firm may decide to go further if it so chooses.

It also said that while talks regarding access to insurance for cancer survivors continue at European level, the code goes beyond the proposed provisions for mortgage amounts of €200,000 or less and a period of 15 years since end of cancer treatment.

Participating insurers have committed to implementing the new framework within six months.

Insurance Ireland said it continues to engage with a number of stakeholders regarding various aspects of the code, including appropriate independent oversight and governance of the provisions.

But it said that insurers are keen to move ahead with the code on a voluntary basis initially to ensure that barriers to access for many cancer survivors can be removed as soon as possible.