Leading health insurer WPA is launching a new policy that covers the cost of life-saving cancer drugs unavailable from the NHS.

The policy – mycancerdrugs – charges a one-off annual fee based on the policyholder’s age, so a 40-year-old will pay £40 a year before 5% insurance tax (£42 with the tax added) for a lifetime benefit of £50,000 towards the cost of cancer drugs.

The policy is seen as particularly useful as the NHS has denied cancer patients drugs like Avastin in the past on the basis of their high cost.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence often delays approval of the drugs as local health authorities refuse to pay for them. The new insurance policy will pay out on a number of drugs licensed by the European Medicines Agency but not available on the NHS.

Julian Stainton, chief executive of WPA, said: “Cancer is no longer an inevitable death sentence. Mycancerdrugs helps fund the cost of advanced drugs where the NHS denies their use.

“For comprehensive private medical insurance, someone in their forties would have to pay around £800 to £1,000. A lot of people simply don’t have that sort of money available to them, so this policy will help.”