10-second summary: Cancer-only cover isn’t a replacement for full serious illness cover. But where full cover isn’t available due to medical conditions like diabetes, it can be a sensible fallback.
Editor’s note: First published 2018 | Fully rebuilt in 2026 to reflect how cancer-only cover is actually used in real Irish advice, especially where full serious illness cover isn’t available.
If you’ve landed here, there’s a good chance one of a few things has already happened.
- You were declined for full serious illness cover
- You were offered cover with exclusions or heavy loadings
- Your budget just won’t stretch to full cover right now
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Let’s be straight from the outset.
If you can get full serious illness cover at a sensible cost, that’s usually the better option.
Cancer-only cover exists for the situations where that just isn’t possible.
Who cancer-only cover is really for
Cancer-only cover is one of the most overlooked products in Irish insurance.
Not because it’s bad, but because it tends to come into play when people are already a bit fed up with underwriting, forms, or disappointing outcomes.
In practice, it’s most often used where:
- Full serious illness cover is declined on medical grounds
- The cost of full cover feels like too much
- Someone wants some protection rather than none at all
It’s not perfect cover.
But for a lot of people, it’s the only realistic option on the table.
What cancer-only cover actually is
Think of a full serious illness policy as a long list of illnesses.
Now imagine trimming that list back until only cancer remains.
That’s cancer-only cover.
It uses the same cancer definitions as a standard serious illness policy, just without everything else.
That’s why it’s cheaper, and why insurers are often more flexible with it.
Why insurers are often more flexible with cancer-only cover
This bit usually surprises people.
Full serious illness cover looks across lots of different systems in the body. Heart, neurological, metabolic, musculoskeletal, and more.
Cancer-only cover is far more focused.
That matters if you have a condition like diabetes.
- Full serious illness cover and income protection isn’t possible.
- Cancer-only underwriting is usually more straightforward
- People declined for full cover are often still accepted for cancer-only cover
That’s why this product quietly fills a gap when nothing else quite fits.
What does cancer-only cover pay out for?
Cancer-only cover pays a tax-free lump sum if you’re diagnosed with cancer that meets the policy definition.
That usually means:
- A full payout for invasive cancer
- Partial payouts for certain early or less severe cancers
Examples of partial payout cancers include:
- Cancer in situ where surgery is required
- Early-stage bladder cancer
- Low-grade prostate cancer (Gleason score 2 to 6)
So if you had €100,000 of cancer-only cover and were diagnosed with invasive cancer, the insurer would pay the full €100,000 tax free.
If the cancer fell into the partial payout category, a smaller lump sum, often around €15,000, would be paid instead.
What cancer-only cover won’t help with
This is just as important.
Cancer-only cover won’t help if:
- You have a heart attack or stroke
- You develop a neurological condition
- You can’t work due to illness or injury
It isn’t a replacement for income protection.
That’s why I don’t recommend it as a first-choice solution.
It’s a fallback, not a shortcut.
Why the costs of cancer catch people out
Cancer isn’t just about treatment. It affects everyday life in ways people don’t always think about upfront.
Even when medical care is covered, costs can creep in:
- Time off work or reduced income
- Travel and parking for appointments
- Higher household bills while recovering
- Extra out-of-pocket expenses
When income drops, small costs stop feeling small very quickly.
A lump sum payout doesn’t fix everything, but it does give breathing space at a time when that really matters.
How much does cancer-only cover usually cost?
For context, a healthy 35-year-old could typically take out €50,000 of cancer-only cover for around €20 per month.
That’s often around half the cost of full serious illness cover.
And for people who can’t get full cover at all, it can be the difference between having something in place and having nothing.
A real-world example
I’ve seen this first-hand.
A client was diagnosed with cancer, and he told me his first thoughts were about paying the mortgage, not his health
He’d forgotten he had serious illness cover. The payout cleared the mortgage and lifted a huge weight at a very tough time.
Cancer-only cover is about giving people who can’t get full cover at least some level of protection.
So is cancer-only cover worth it?
If full serious illness cover or income protection is available and affordable, that’s usually the better route.
If it isn’t, cancer-only cover is often the next best option, especially for people with existing medical conditions who would otherwise be left unprotected.
What to do next
The key thing is not guessing.
Sometimes full cover is possible when it looks like it won’t be. Other times, cancer-only cover is the sensible fallback.
Complete our financial questionnaire, and I’ll look at what’s realistically available before recommending anything.
If you’d rather talk it through, you can also book a call here.
Thanks for reading,
Nick
Written by Nick McGowan, QFA RPA APA
Nick is a qualified financial advisor and founder of Lion.ie, an independent Irish life insurance and income protection brokerage based in Tullamore.
He’s been helping people get fair, transparent cover for over 15 years and was named Protection Broker of the Year 2022.
If you want straight answers without the sales pitch, learn more about Nick here.