The long established cancer charity CancerBACUP had reason to look into problems that some cancer patients had come up against when they made the discovery that their private health insurances were letting them down by failing to cover them for the advanced courses of their cancer treatment.

Unbelievably, some way into treatment, the funding could be withdrawn without notice and at a critical time for patients. This was obviously a time when patients are feeling vulnerable. They could be going full steam ahead and their treatment apparently going really well. This is obviously a dreadful time to pull the rug from under their feet. On the other hand, if the patient feels that theyre not doing so well and the treatment doesnt seem to have had the desired effect, stopping it will increase their feelings of anxiety and hopelessness.

CancerBACUP found that, in an examination of around 65% of health insurers, only one well known name offered patients cover for the whole of their illness. Others only carried treatment through to a point. The actual treatment aimed at stopping the progression of the disease would be undertaken without question but the follow on therapy, maybe chemotherapy or some of the new breast cancer drugs are the ones that may be refused.

The problem seemed to be the patient being given misleading information. Inexperienced sellers on health policies were giving out information that would mislead people into feeling they were fully covered for cancer and all treatment for it, but sadly this was not the case.

It is essential that companies are completely clear on what should and shouldnt be covered. There have been cases where purchasers of the insurance have specifically asked these inexperienced sellers if theyre fully covered for cancer and theyd received false reassurances that everything was covered.

Quite clearly, if you take out a health insurance policy, you expect to be covered for all illnesses. Critical cover, you would imagine, would cover all the major conditions such as heart disease, circulatory problems, strokes and cancer. Very many cancers are now considered to be curable, particularly at early stages, but there are still some of the more difficult ones which give cause for concern and the diagnosis can be critical. Whatever anyone tells you, you need to read all the terms and conditions of the policy with great care. If theres anything you dont understand, then ask questions.

If youre unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with cancer, you need to be confident that youre going to get the very best treatment. A diagnosis such as this is an awful shock and the last thing you need is to be haggling over treatment.

The best way to make sure you get the right cover is find an on-line independent broker. They\'ll guide you through the form-filling and find the right choice of recommended policies for you, personally.

Incidentally CancerBACUP is an excellent organisation. It offers unfailing support to cancer patients and their families, and is particularly useful when the cancer is newly diagnosed.

On the web site cancerbacup there are over 3000 pages of up-to-date information, and their cancer support service operating by telephone, e-mail and letter, helps over 50,000 cancer patients and their families per year. They offer extensive reading material from pamphlets, to books and cancer BACKUP news a quarterly magazine, and they have local centres in hospitals throughout the UK.