Papillary carcinoma cancer and critical illness insurance

Hi

L&G paid out my claim in full in May 2020 for a papillary thyroid carcinoma. Mine was confined to the thyroid with no vascular invasion, however my lump was a bit bigger than yours at 24mm. 

I was quite confused by the wording in the policy booklet so gave them a call. I said I'd had a cancer diagnosis and wasn't sure if it was something I could claim for. They asked the type of cancer and the size and then sent me a form to fill in. All they needed was the name/hospital details of any consultants/surgeons etc plus GP details. 

They then deal directly with them to get confirmation of the diagnosis.

Everyone I spoke to at L&G was really nice so definitely ring them to check if you can claim. 

Thank you for your reply. 

I just sent of my claim form. I was a bit concerned that the sizes of my tumors  might be too small. I'm glad I'm well again but it would be fantastic if I got my critical illness insurance. I thought it might have to have spread to lymph nodes to get a claim.

Hi Candy75

Im going through exactly the same. Also with L&G. I too find the wording really hard to understand on the policy.

I started process in November. Had my surgery 2 weeks ago now and even though the biopsy report confirmed papillary adenocarcinoma they now want the histology report from surgery! That'll take weeks then it'll take weeks for the medical officer to look at it too.

Did you have much joy? Hope you've recovered well

Hi CupcakeQueen - I hope you don't mind me responding - I've just completed the L&G claim paperwork (mine was 2cm minimally invasive follicular cancer). Wondered if you'd heard anything - guessing not given that they want the histology report? Interested to see how you get on :-) hope you're keeping fit and well and are recovering. x

Hi

Hope you are well. Thought I would just add some more detail to my original post to Candy.

My claim ended up taking about 5 months, my GP sent L&G the wrong information which didn't help matters!
Your payout should get backdated to diagnosis, I got my premiums back that I paid whilst the claim was going
through and some interest.

I was so confused by the policy wording.

If you read the cancer policy definition in the booklet it states the following:
"Any malignant tumour positively diagnosed with
histological confirmation and characterised by the
uncontrolled growth of malignant cells and
invasion of tissue"
Our thyroid was invaded by the tumour so we meet that definition. 

I asked the nurse at the hospital about the
"pre-malignant; – non-invasive; – cancer in situ; – having either borderline malignancy; or – having low malignant potential" cancers not being covered and she said none of those applied to me
(as per my previous post my tumour was 24mm with no spread).

Hi

No of course I don't mind you responding :) mine was 9mm and confirmed with pathology just last week its papillary thyroid adenocarcinoma. So my surgeon kindly called me and said he had more paper work from L&G. 

L&G called me the week before telling me they needed the report back before they could proceed as they needed to know if it was invasive...I obviously had a biopsy which had said it was  PTC so I still don't quite understand why they need any more info. It's either cancer or not right? I feel like the insurance company just procrastinate. 

I asked why it was taking so long and they just said they're too busy. It's been going on since November and apparently when they get histology report it takes another 21 days to get the chief medical officer to review so goodness knows how long it'll be.

I shall keep you updated indeed. Best wishes

Hi. I'm well thank you. Getting there with Recovery. Insurance aside did you suffer with rheumatic pain after you op?

Going back to the claim, so glad it was sorted. Mine is 5 months too. Taking ages! If you see my reply to another user below its been a long old process. The Policy wording is silly. In my opinion you've either got cancer which a pathology report will determine or you haven't? But apparently the medical officer needed more info from my report.

Hope you've recovered well 

I'll keep everything crossed that it's all resolved soon for you ... I really appreciate you sharing your experience thank you. I'll have to wait and see what L&G say about mine I guess, I know the histology report confirms follicular thyroid cancer but whether it has to be a certain stage etc to qualify, who knows. 

Thanks again, xx

I shouldn't think you have problems. If histology say its cancerous then who are they to argue? Good luck xx

Hi - just thought I'd pop an update here in case it's helpful for anyone else looking to make a claim - I've received confirmation today that my Follicular Carcinoma (minimally invasive PT1b 20mm) meets the criteria of the policy and that the policy will pay out funds within the next 5 to 10 days. I submitted my claim forms on 23 March - so really quick turnaround. Hope all is well. x