Get advice
Most of the big cancer charities have financial experts who can help you navigate the benefits system and find out what you can claim to help you meet the cost of living while you are ill.
Macmillan Cancer Support runs a welfare rights service which is open seven days a week. You can call on 0808 8080000. The charity’s website also has a cost of living section, with detailed advice. Start at macmillan.org.uk
The charity Maggie’s has 24 centres across the UK, all with benefits advisers. They offer face-to-face and virtual support, depending on which you would prefer.
You can approach these organisations at any point – it does not have to be straight after your diagnosis.
Ask HR
If you are an employee, you should be entitled to sick pay. Basic statutory sick pay is now £109.40 a week and is paid to workers who usually earn an average of at least £123 a week. It is paid for up to 28 weeks – which may sound like a lot at first, but your treatment could easily last longer. To claim, you need to give your employer a sicknote; you will probably get this from your GP or hospital doctor.
A lot of companies pay more than the minimum, so ask your manager or HR department what you can expect. It is not uncommon for companies to offer full pay for the first six months, then half pay for the next six months. During the time off, you will usually be building up holiday entitlement, so you might be able to take some paid leave when the sick pay runs out.
If you are planning to work through treatment, your employer is not obliged to pay you for time off for appointments, but most will.
If you are self-employed, you won’t qualify for statutory sick pay. Instead, you will have look at benefits, in the form of new-style employment support allowance.
Anna Ellis, a welfare and benefits adviser at Maggie’s, says that if you are undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy, you should qualify for the “support” rate, which is higher than the basic payment. It is worth £129.50 a week.
Check policies
When you find out that you are ill, you should check what money you can claim on private insurance policies. Ellis’s colleague Zoe Winters says this is something she will ask about, particularly if someone has a mortgaged property. “It might be that they have a policy that will pay their salary for a year,” she says.
Policies to check are those covering critical illness (you might have this packaged with life insurance), income protection and mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI).
All critical illness policies cover cancer, although they will need to meet a certain severity before you can claim. These policies pay a tax-free lump sum, which you can use how you choose.
Income protection insurance offers a monthly payment to replace some of your earnings, while mortgage payment protection insurance covers your home loan repayments each month. On both of these there will be a “deferred period” before payments begin, and usually you will only receive payments for a year or two. All this will be in your policy or will be explained by your insurer when you call.
You may also be able to access your pension early, says Winters, although this has knock-on effects: you might lose your death-in-service benefits, for instance. This is not a step to take without getting financial advice.
Get an NHS card
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland prescriptions are free but in England they are typically paid for. However, if you have cancer, you qualify for a medical exemption certificate, which makes all NHS prescriptions free.
You may be given a form by a cancer nurse, but if not, ask for one. It needs to be signed by your GP or one of the other healthcare professionals looking after you before you send it off. The card will last five years. You must have a card: do not assume that your diagnosis instantly means free prescriptions. You could get a £100 fine for each prescription if you do.
Claim benefits
A cancer diagnosis does not immediately qualify you for state benefits, but there could be money you could claim as a result of its effects. Losing some of your income is one thing that might mean you qualify.
“Even if you are getting sick pay, you may qualify for benefits,” says Ellis. “People can often get universal credit to top up their income, especially if they are renting and with children.”
Depending on the physical impact of your cancer – or the treatment you have to have for it – you might qualify for personal independence payment (Pip), or adult disability payment in Scotland, or attendance allowance if you are over state pension age. These claims all involve being assessed to see if you qualify; however, if your illness is terminal, you will not have to wait.
You may not qualify for these benefits at first, but if you are unable to work when your sick pay period comes to an end, you should check again. Some of them unlock extra help, such as free NHS wigs or surgical bras.
Unfortunately, although travelling to hospital is likely to be among the biggest costs of cancer, there are no benefits geared towards paying for it. But Ellis says that if you are suffering from debilitating fatigue or neuropathy (nerve damage, typically in feet or hands), you may be able to apply for a blue badge or, if you live in London, a freedom pass for public transport.
Apply for grants
Lots of charities offer grants to help you pay for things if you are on a low income. Macmillan is a good port of call, as it offers cash to help with everyday expenses such as travel.
“Macmillan grants are small, one-off payments of £200 to help people with the extra costs that cancer can cause,” says Levon Gray, a welfare rights specialist at Macmillan Cancer Support. “The grants can be used for things like energy bills, extra clothing, home adaptions, cost of travel to and from hospital, or any extra costs people living with cancer may experience.”
He adds that the grant “is designed to be an extra bit of help, not a replacement for other support such as benefits”. You can apply via Macmillan’s support line. Alternatively you may be referred by a health professional or adviser at another charity.
Winters says other charities specialising in particular cancers or groups of patients also offer grants. For instance, the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan offers up to £250 to those undergoing a stem cell transplant who only have a small amount in savings.
Do not be shy about asking if you qualify. Even if a charity can’t support you financially, it might be able to point you towards other help.
