I have beaten cancer: do I have to declare it?

A question that used to have no clear answer

For years, having had cancer was an almost automatic ground for refusal or a loaded premium on a life policy, no matter how much time had passed or how things had gone. Many people assumed they could no longer buy cover, and never even tried.

That changed in 2023. The law now sets a point after which a history of cancer cannot be taken into account — not as a recommendation, but as a prohibition.

What the law says

For life insurance, there is no duty to declare having had cancer once five years have passed since the end of radical treatment with no subsequent relapse.

And the rule goes further than the duty to disclose: after that period the insurer may not consider the existence of a cancer history for underwriting purposes, and any discrimination or restriction on that ground is prohibited. It is not only that you need not mention it; it is that it cannot weigh on the decision.

Two points worth being clear about. The clock runs from the end of radical treatment, not from diagnosis. And the provision is written for life insurance: outside that field the general rule still applies — declare what the questionnaire asks.

An example

Someone finished treatment in 2019 and has had no relapse. In 2026 they want life cover tied to a mortgage. More than five years have passed since treatment ended, so the questionnaire cannot make the cover conditional on that history, nor turn it into a loaded premium or an exclusion.

Had treatment ended in 2023, the period would not yet be complete and the situation would be the ordinary one: declare what is asked and await the underwriting decision, which may or may not be favourable.

What this rule does not solve

The law removes one specific obstacle, but it does not make cover automatic. There is still an underwriting process, and other factors — age, the sum requested, other conditions — still weigh as they would on any policy.

Nor does it rewrite what is already signed: it affects new cover, not existing contracts. If you hold a policy with an exclusion imposed before the reform, the thing to do is have it reviewed, not assume it has changed by itself.