'I'm dying and my life insurance company won't give me a penny'

A grandad with terminal cancer who has been paying life insurance premiums for 15 years has been told he can't cash out on his policy. Shaun Pinkney, 53, is unable make a claim because he doesn't have long enough left on his plan, Aviva bosses say.

The small print, they say, states someone with a terminal illness can only make a claim if they have 18 months or more left on their policy. Shaun - a dad-of-four and grandad-of-six from Salford - also can't renew because of his diagnosis.

"So, if I'd got terminal cancer six months earlier than when I was diagnosed, they would have paid out?," he said. "It's absolutely ridiculous."

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Shaun was diagnosed with multiple myeloma - a type of bone marrow cancer - in April 2023. A year later, he was reminded of his life insurance policy in a letter from Aviva, which urged him to renew the plan he'd been paying into for 15 years.

Hoping to have 'one last holiday' with his family, he decided to call to renew his wife's policy and cash out his own. Shaun added: "I rang Aviva up. They said 'unfortunately, because you've not got 18 months left on your contract - you've only got two months - you can't claim it. I then tried to renew the policy, but was told I couldn't because I have terminal cancer.

"The pay-out won't be worth lots, but it would have been something. I'm getting penalised for getting cancer too late. I could pass away next week. I want this sorted before I die. I'm positive and I try and carry on, but I know this is unbeatable."

Aviva says the 'terminal illness benefit allows customers to receive a life insurance payment early, if a medical specialist confirms that they are sadly expected to live for less than 12 months following diagnosis of a terminal condition'.

"This is an acceleration of the death benefit, effectively paying the death benefit early, to enable customers to put their affairs in order, rather than it being paid to the beneficiaries after death," they say.

The company adds: "Typical with many life insurance policies, the 18-month period is included to ensure that any benefit is paid while the policy is still in force'. The clause appears on page 12 of an 18-page policy conditions booklet provided to Shaun.

The M.E.N. understands that in 2013, Aviva stopped selling policies in which there is a mismatch between the end of the major benefit and the expiration of the rest of the policy.

Aviva could not answer whether customers on older policies have been told about the removal of the 18-month exclusion for the terminal illness benefit, or if customers are contacted ahead of the cut off to advise them they may want to change or renew their package as a major element of it times out.

The M.E.N. understands Aviva has reviewed Shaun's case, but has not changed its decision as he does not have a specific prognosis of having 12 months to live. They have said they cannot offer him another policy because of his general terminal diagnosis.

Shaun is now is largely confined to a wheelchair. Speaking about his ordeal, he said: "I've had an operation, I'm having chemotherapy, I've had a stem cell transplant. The treatment can prolong my life, but it can't cure it. This has just turned my life upside down.

"With the stem cell transplant, the cancer will hopefully go dormant for a bit, but I could wake up next year and it'll be back. I never know how long I've got. It's terminal. They only used the word when I got diagnosed because you need to know for the life insurance process. Some people can last 10 years, some can last two.

'We appreciate this must be a very worrying time'

An Aviva spokesperson said: "We were very sorry to hear about Mr Pinkney's diagnosis. We understand the seriousness of his condition and appreciate that this must be a very worrying time for him.

"Life insurance is designed to provide a payment to the customer's beneficiaries if the customer dies within the policy term. terminal illness benefit is a feature that enables the customer to receive a life insurance payment early, if a medical specialist confirms that they are sadly expected to live for less than 12 months.

"While life insurance cover is available until a policy term ends, under Mr Pinkney's policy, terminal illness benefit is not payable within the final 18 months of the policy. This is explained in the documents sent to customers when they take out a policy.

"This 18-month period is included to ensure that any benefit is paid while the policy is still in force. As Mr Pinkney's diagnosis was within the last 18 months of his policy, we are unfortunately unable to pay his terminal illness benefit claim.

"Unfortunately, due to Mr Pinkney's current ill-health, we are not able to cover him on a new life insurance policy."