Benign Brain Tumour

Serious Illness Definition

Benign brain tumour is one of the illnesses covered by our Serious Illness Benefit. We define it as a non-malignant tumour or cyst originating from the brain, cranial nerves or meninges within the skull, resulting in any of the following:

• invasive surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery to destroy or remove all or part of the tumour, or
• chemotherapy treatment to destroy tumour cells, or
• lasting impairment to the nervous system measured using the Modified Rankin Scale at level 2 or above

The following will not be paid under this definition:

• tumours of the pituitary gland

When the policy would and wouldn’t pay out

Benign brain tumours don’t invade other tissues or spread to other areas of the body. But they can be harmful because they increase pressure in the skull. This can cause permanent brain and nerve damage. There are a number of different treatments for benign brain tumours depending on the position of the tumour and the severity of the symptoms.

This policy will pay out if you must undergo at least one of specific treatments stated above. Or it will pay out if the tumour is causing a lasting impairment to the nervous system to at least level 2 of the Modified Rankin Scale.

The Modified Rankin Scale is a commonly used and internationally accepted scale for measuring how well a person can carry out daily activities after suffering neurological damage. ‘Neurological damage’ means damage to the nervous system, which may include the brain.

This policy pays out when the impact of the neurological damage is deemed to be at least level 2 which is described as having ‘slight disability’.

See below further information about the Modified Rankin Scale and which levels are covered by this policy.