Life, pensions and investment mutual Royal London has changed its approach to cancer underwriting to widen access to people who have been previously diagnosed.
Royal London has broadened the instances when it can offer terms for critical illness and income protection where it was previously unable to do so.
Its life cover outcomes have also been changed to reflect current evidence to include improved terms for customers who previously had a range of different cancers, such as breast, colorectal and skin.
Royal London said cancer was a disease that could “touch the lives of all of us”, with two thirds of adult critical illness claims paid out be the provider in 2023 being related to cancer.
The provider said cancer was an “incredibly complex area to underwrite”, with more than 200 different types with varying staging and grading. It said its updated guidance would be a welcome development.
Craig Paterson, chief underwriter at Royal London, said: “Improving cancer survival rates has led to a growing protection need for those who have previously had the disease that could also help address the protection gap.
“It’s important we continue to keep pace with medical advancements to offer fair and accurate decisions that benefit customers with a history of cancer.”
He added: “The changes we’ve made are part of our commitment to provide evidence-based outcomes and to broaden access to insurance by offering cover to as many customers as we can.”
Last month, Royal London also made changes to its income protection criteria to make the offering more flexible and easier to claim.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
