Life insurance for cancer patients and survivors is available here!
Cancer Quick Overview
As specialists in high-risk life insurance underwriting, we know how to get you the best life insurance after cancer treatment.
- Bladder Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Cervical Cancer
- Colon Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Skin Cancer
- Throat Cancer
- Thyroid Cancer
With life insurance underwriting, the type of cancer, staging, grading, treatment history and recurrence if any determines the availability and price for life insurance.
Cancer Life Insurance FAQ
The following are the most common cancer life insurance questions.
Life insurance when you have cancer is limited to guaranteed issue life insurance and accidental death insurance for most cases. In some instances such as for low stage prostate cancer, term life insurance and universal life insurance may be available now.
You can get life insurance after cancer, although the length of time you need to wait (postpone period) will depend on the type of cancer, stage, treatment and other factors mentioned in this article.
Yes, life insurance policies cover cancer. If you buy a life insurance policy and are later diagnosed with cancer, it will not affect the payout to your beneficiaries.
Family history of cancer does not affect life insurance if you work with the correct life insurance companies. If you have a family cancer syndrome (ex. BRCA1, BRCA2), make sure you let us know that.
The best life insurer after cancer depends on the type of malignancy, the severity and the treatment you received. Some carriers are aggressive with prostate cancer, while other companies are better with bladder cancer or thyroid cancer.
You need to be in complete remission for 1-5 years for most term life insurance and permanent life insurance policies. If your remission is a partial remission, life insurance is typically limited to guaranteed acceptance life insurance policies.
Life Insurance for Cancer Survivors
Now that you’ve beaten cancer you may be wondering how to get life insurance after cancer.
There is typically a postpone period following cancer treatment, followed by a period of time where life insurers will charge you an additional expense called a flat extra.
The waiting period depends on many factors, including:
- What type of cancer did you have?
- When were you diagnosed with cancer?
- What was the cancer stage?
- What was the cancer grade?
- How was cancer treated?
- When did you complete all treatment?
- Has there been any recurrence?
- Do you have any other pre-existing conditions?
- Is there any family history of the type of cancer you had?
Cancer postpone periods vary widely from a few months to years…but more on this later.
Buying life insurance after cancer is possible and we’ll help you get it.
Life Insurance for Cancer Patients
If you are currently a cancer patient, you may be wondering if you can even buy life insurance?
Finding coverage with cancer may limit your options to certain types of life insurance such as guaranteed issue or accidental death policies.
In most cases, underwriters will not offer life insurance to you until you have completed all cancer treatments. You may also have a postpone period after completing all treatment before life insurance is available.
Average Postpone Period by Cancer Stage
| Cancer Stage | Treatment | Minimum Postpone Period |
| Stage 1 | Surgery Only | 3-12 months |
| Stage 1 | Surgery & Radiation/Chemo | 12 months |
| Stage 2 | All Treatments | 12 months (note #1) |
| Stage 3 | All Treatments | 5 Years (note #2) |
| Stage 4 | All Treatments | Guaranteed Issue (note #3) |
Note #1 – Some stage 2 cancers may be insurable within 6 months. Examples include prostate cancer, melanoma, colon cancers, and thyroid cancers.
Note #2 – Some stage 3 cancers may require longer postpone periods. Examples include breast cancer, lymphomas, bladder cancer, etc.
Note #3 – Most stage 4 cancers are not insurable, other than with a guaranteed issue type of policy.
In addition to the above, life insurance is available for basal and squamous cell skin cancers.
If you were declined for life insurance due to cancer, read this – Denied Life Insurance
If you need help determining how much life insurance to buy, this guide will help.
You may find our life insurance definitions section helpful with additional explanations.
Can you get life insurance if cancer has returned?
A recurrence is the most complicated medical history to get approved with underwriting, as many factors are considered, including:
- Type – What type of cancer did you originally have?
- Is recurrent cancer the same type as your original cancer?
- Pathology – What does the pathology report say?
- What type of treatment did you receive?
- How much time passed since the completion of original treatment?
- Has cancer spread to lymph nodes or other organs?
- When did you complete cancer treatment?
Most life insurers postpone consideration for 5-10 years after completion of treatment the second time around.
Once this period is over, life insurance is considered on a case by case basis and will most likely involve a table rating and a flat extra expense.
Malignancy history and life insurance
Malignancy histories disclosed during underwriting are factored into your policy already and will be covered by your policy.
Diagnosed with cancer after purchasing life insurance?
If you’re diagnosed with cancer after you have purchased a life insurance policy, you’re insured. The insurance company will pay the death claim.
The life insurance company can’t terminate your policy or reduce the death benefit.
If you die within the first few years (contestability period) of the policy, insurers review death claims to ensure that all medical information was disclosed during underwriting.
Therefore, if you lied about your health during underwriting, your loved ones will have a problem collecting the death benefit.
Whether you’re a survivor, currently have cancer or were approved for coverage but now have questions about the price, we’ll help you.
Regardless of your medical history, we have the expertise to help you find coverage and will help you apply for life insurance with companies that will offer you coverage.
If you are a cancer survivor with HIV, start with our guide HIV Life Insurance by RiskQuoter.
Cancer Summary
We match you to the best life insurance companies and policies based on your individual cancer history.
We use a quick quote process with our clients to ensure we reach all of the competitive companies.
A quick quote is a summary of your medical history. Once we get the information we need from you, we’ll request quick quotes from the companies we work with.
The benefit to you is that we are able to get feedback from many companies in 3-4 days, and do this on an anonymous basis…we share your medical information but nothing that would identify you personally.
As always, there is no pressure and no obligation with our service.
Please take a few minutes to submit your quote request today. Thank you.
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