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Since 1 January 2021 Dutch insurers may not ask whether someone has had cancer when they apply for term life or funeral insurance, once ten years have passed in full remission with no recurrence, or five years if the cancer was diagnosed before age 21.
The Netherlands, Besluit van 2 november 2020, houdende regels voor verzekeringskeuringen van ex-kankerpatiënten (Besluit verzekeringskeuringen ex-kankerpatiënten), Staatsblad 2020, 453, made under article 14(3) of the Medical Examinations Act (Wet op de medische keuringen) and in force from 1 January 2021 (article 4).
Scope (article 1): examinations for term life insurance (overlijdensrisicoverzekering) with a sum insured up to the statutory question limit and a term ending before the insured person turns 71, and funeral insurance taken out before age 61. Rule (article 2): asking whether cancer was diagnosed in the past is a disproportionate intrusion on privacy if the treating clinician judged there to be complete remission and no recurrence has been diagnosed for an uninterrupted ten years from that point; five years if the person was under 21 at diagnosis. Article 3 allows shorter periods for specific cancers where the risk of recurrence falls early, set by agreement between representative patient and insurer organisations.
In an answer to parliamentary questions published on 26 May 2026, the Minister of Finance said that skin, thyroid and testicular cancers already have shorter periods than ten years under the scheme; that the periods are agreed between the Dutch Federation of Cancer Patient Organisations (NFK) and the Dutch Association of Insurers, reviewed in principle every three years; and that doctors, researchers, patient organisations and insurers were discussing whether new evidence justifies changing them.
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Shares Right-to-be-forgotten laws for cancer survivors in Europe, Insurance, mortgages and the right to be forgotten and the tag law.
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