Even after the cease of treatment, cancer patients are now finding it difficult to find travel insurance that they can afford, City watchdog has reported. The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) has said that it’ll now lead people to specific covers relating to their situation in accordance with the industry.
This initiative is set to help a whopping 15 million patients with long-term health issues. This number, as the regulators say, might rise to 18 million by the following decade.
A report says that insurance sector specifically marginalizes people being treated for cancer.
There are various problems underlying the situation like unclear premium pricing, lack of understanding and information among people relating to alternate cover options and among insurance companies owing to risk factors associated with setting of prices.
Although specialized firms are willing to provide cover for such people, they feel “uninsurable” after failed attempts to find insurance policies through websites that compare prices. One in three people in the UK are likely to suffer from cancer and it’s absurd to not let them travel because they’ve no insurance or even worse, to push them to the point where they risk traveling without it, says Melissa Collett. She further added that we should help the people living with the deadly disease.
A 58-year old woman, who was pronounced cancer-free in December 2015, had to fight to get insurance even after 6 years of her cancerous-freckle-removing surgery. Another patient was charged hundreds of pounds of premium after low-grade bladder cancer treatment. Since January, Macmillan Cancer Support was flooded with more than 900 phone calls about this problem. Although the AIB didn’t have very positive views, Raluca Boroianu-Omura said that the industry would try and find better ways to deal with the matter and help the people in need of it.
David Sparkes said that insurance costs wouldn’t be any more expensive that they already are. This would be achieved by judging risk levels by asking suitable questions about a customer’s health. He added that these facilities should be made available for people suffering from other diseases too apart from cancer.
Be First to Comment