Cancer survivors face financial discrimination when looking for loans, mortgages and insurance

Research reveals that cancer survivors face discrimination when trying to get loans, mortgages, and health or travel insurance.

Successfully treated patients often have to declare previous diagnoses when applying for financial services.

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast looked at the barriers to access to services for survivors across Europe.

Their work, published in The Lancet Oncology, estimated that one in four people whose disease had been cured experienced discrimination despite being declared ‘cancer-free’.

Professor Mark Lawler, digital health expert at Queen’s, said: “Our evidence of financial toxicity for cancer survivors is undeniable.

READ MORE: ‘I was offered £700 for a week’s travel insurance for cancer’

“Our data suggests that, according to a conservative estimate, more than half a million cancer survivors in the UK may experience some form of economic discrimination.

“And it could be even more. It’s shameful that large numbers of cancer survivors are still discriminated against financially.

Professor Lawler said cancer survivors were particularly hard hit during the cost of living crisis. He added: “We urgently need legislation to protect our patients who are living beyond their cancer.”

Professor Lawler is a member of the European Initiative to End Discrimination against Cancer Survivors, which is campaigning for legislation that would mean that patients who have been successfully treated do not have to disclose their previous diagnoses.

France became the first country to introduce such a “right to be forgotten” for long-term cancer survivors in January 2016. They do not have to share their cancer history with a five-year delay without recurrence.

Mairaid McMahon, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said cancer often brings devastating and unexpected financial problems.

He added: “This research shows that far too many people continue to face unfair financial challenges long after their diagnosis. This is unacceptable.

“It is vital that regulators and government consider additional safeguards to ensure that everyone has fair and equal access to financial services.”

Richard Spratt, Chief Executive of Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, said: “A cancer diagnosis is one of the most devastating times anyone can experience and the cancer journey can be relentless, with extreme physical and mental consequences for months to years.

“It’s cruel to think that someone’s diagnosis stays with them, not only because of the emotional or physical trauma of diagnosis and treatment, but also because financial institutions are able to hold someone’s cancer history over their heads, seemingly for the rest of their lives.”

Planets Cancer Charity – which supports pancreatic, liver, colon, stomach, oesophageal and neuroendocrine cancers – has also campaigned to end travel insurance charges for patients with stable illnesses.

Planets Director of Operations and Marketing, Jo Green, was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2011. Although incurable, her disease has remained stable and not progressed since her previous surgery in 2018.

She said: “I am very fit, teach five fitness classes a week, do CrossFit for fun and recently completed a 100 mile cycle event with the charity – my full-time role with the charity.

“I consider myself a very low risk and the probability that something related to my cancer will happen while I’m away is close to zero. Despite this, I’ve routinely been either turned down for insurance or quoted exorbitant prices that don’t seem to be related to my risk.”

Insurance companies often have difficulty understanding the risk of stable cancer without special expertise, Jo said. Planets works with insurance industry leaders to develop proposals for a better system.

Jo added: “Holidays are a necessity, not a luxury. If I get a solid scan, my first thought is, ‘What am I going to do this year?'” I’m living one year at a time.

“It’s a coping mechanism, a way to feel like I’m living my life and leaving my problems behind, even if it’s just for a week.”

• If you are a cancer survivor who has faced financial discrimination, you can share your story by writing to express.news.desk@reachplc.com