What benefits are cancer patients entitled to?

This benefit provides financial help to people who are unable to work following completion of the Statutory Sick Pay period (28 weeks). You may also be eligible if you can’t claim SSP because you’re self-employed, unemployed but not in receipt of Jobseeker’s allowance, you earn less that the National Insurance contribution threshold or are under State Pension age. ESA also provides personalised support to those who are able to work.

There are two different types of ESA, each with different eligibility criteria:

1. Contribution-based ESA – you may be able to claim this if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions. This is not means tested and is not affected by your partner’s income, savings or how many hours they work.
2. Income-related ESA – you may be able to claim if you earn less than £112 a week and haven’t paid enough National Insurance contributions. Income-related ESA is means tested, so if you or your partner have income or savings of £16,000 or work 24 hours or more a week, then you may not be eligible.

For 13 weeks after your claim you will receive the assessment rate and, if you are entitled to ESA, you will be placed in either the work-related activity group (up to £102.15 a week) or the support group (up to £109.30).

This benefit provides financial support for people under 65, who have had difficulty walking or taking care of themselves for at least three months. These difficulties should be expected to last for at least the next six months.

From April 2013, a new claim for Disability Living Allowance can only be made for children under 16.

This benefit has replaced Disability Living Allowance for adults. It provides financial help to people between 16 and 64 who have found it difficult to get about day-to-day for at least three months. These difficulties should be expected to last for at least the next nine months.

This benefit is not means tested, so you could be in receipt of this benefit regardless of your income or savings. If you have been turned down for a benefit, you may be able to appeal against that decision or ask for a review. This should be done within a certain time frame. This is a complicated process, so it is advisable to seek help from the above-mentioned sources.

Some people have got financial products to cover them for a “rainy day”. Schemes like life assurance, critical illness and occupational pension. Since each of these schemes have different rules and operate in different ways, it is extremely important to get proper advice to find out about these policies and the best thing to do in your current situation.

There are a few sources of advice:

• For a particular financial product; the provider of the product (insurance company, pensions scheme, etc.).
• For advice about investment; an independent financial advisor (IFA).
• For debt advice; independent, free organisations, such as Citizen Advice.
• The Macmillan Cancer Support Line (Tel: 0808 8080000).

Being diagnosed with cancer might impact the conditions of buying insurance. Sometimes, people affected by cancer face higher premiums, special conditions or refusal when buying life insurance and some types of health insurance, such as travel insurance.

Since cancer is now considered as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, an insurer can treat a client with a disability less favourably if the disability increases the risk of claiming, but only if the assessment is based on relevant information from a source that is reasonable to rely on (statistical data and/or medical reports). Insurer decisions can be challenged, and then the insurer will have to provide evidence to show that the decision was based on the above-mentioned conditions.