Four in ten cancer patients have been quoted higher travel insurance premiums than their peers while six per cent have been unable to obtain cover at all, the research suggested.

Meanwhile, eight per cent of cancer sufferers have decided to save money by going abroad without any insurance cover because the cost of the insurance they were offered was so high.

Even past cancer patients who are now out of active treatment or in remission face hiked premiums, Macmillan found.

Some sufferers were “quoted double or triple the cost of insuring their holiday” while many faced “tactless and insensitive questions”, a Macmillan spokesperson told BBC News.

After discovering this gulf between the premiums non-sufferers and sufferers pay, the charity is launching a campaign to help cancer patients get a better deal on their insurance.

But Nick Starling, a director at the Association of British Insurers, stressed that “travel insurers provide competitively priced cover to as many travellers as possible”.

Find out more about travel insurance

© Adfero Ltd