'We don't deserve it': B.C. man with Stage 4 cancer says he was denied insurance coverage

A B.C. man says his insurance provider has decided to cancel his and his wife’s coverage for failing to disclose a visit to the emergency room to the insurance provider nearly three years before he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer.

A B.C. man says his insurance provider has decided to cancel his and his wife’s coverage for failing to disclose a visit to the emergency room to the insurance provider nearly three years before he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer.

“We kind of got dropped off the side of a cliff,” said Toby Cleary, who spent the last few years receiving chemotherapy treatment at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre.

On Sept. 17, 2019, Cleary and his wife, Danielle Raymond, applied for insurance through Manulife. Raymond said the plan included critical illness, disability and life insurance. On Jan. 5, 2022, Cleary was diagnosed with colon cancer. The couple decided it was an apt time to access the critical illness portion of the package, which provides a lump sum payment if either one of them is diagnosed with an illness covered by the policy, such as cancer.

“When we submitted that claim, we were told you need to give us access to 10 years of your medical records,” Raymond said.

Six months later, they received a response from Manulife indicating their entire insurance policy would be terminated due to Clearly’s failure to disclose to Manulife an emergency room visit at Meadow Ridge Hospital on Oct. 11, 2019, a few weeks after they first applied for the insurance plan.

According to the letter, Manulife noted the visit included rectal bleeding, no diagnosis, and a referral for a colonoscopy. The letter stated that under the insurance agreement, Cleary signed a declaration on March 2, 2020, confirming that, since the application date of Sept. 17, 2019, he had not had “any illness, disorder, injury, operation or treatment”; had not “consulted, been examined or treated by any healthcare professional or been advised to or have a medical appointment or consultation with a healthcare professional that has not yet taken place”; and had not had “any medical tests completed or been advised to have any medical tests that have not yet been completed.”

The letter concluded,“It is therefore clear that we did not receive the medical information necessary to properly underwrite your policy.”