It’s at claim time that you really find out whether your insurance policy works the way you wanted it to and whether you’ve had the best advice.

In my fifteen years as a Life Insurance Adviser I have helped many clients through claims and over the coming months I am sharing a few cases which have learnings that may help others. Obviously I have changed any identifying details as privacy is paramount.

Geoff...

I met my client Geoff many years ago and we have reviewed his insurances, both business and personal, annually ever since.  He owns his own business and works almost every hour in the day. Like many who own their own business, he is a one man band, although he occasionally employs a labourer to help with manufacturing and installing his products.  His role encompasses quoting and sales and marketing management, all the invoicing and accounts, and he is still hands on in manufacturing and installation.

We therefore implemented insurance cover which would look after both him and the business in the event he suffered a serious illness and/or was left unable to work.

Four years ago on feeling some chest pain, a friend called Geoff an ambulance and he was rushed to hospital while having a heart attack. 

He survived this and after having surgery to have stents inserted, he recovered and was well enough to head home, but not back to work. 

After the initial shock of this event, his mind quickly turned to his business and the impending stress of his work commitments - both in terms of his financial needs and in the promises he had made to his customers to fulfil orders.

As we had regularly reviewed and implemented the correct insurances for him over the years we were able to relieve this stress. Geoff quickly received not only a personal Trauma claim to provide instant financial relief with personal expenses, but also a Trauma Claim paid to the business under his Key Person Policy.

These immediate funds paid to his business account allowed him to employ an Accounts person to keep the financials under control, along with covering some of the ongoing fixed costs of the business i.e. lease payments.  They also covered the recruitment cost of a new employee with industry experience that could manage the business for Geoff in the interim, helping to fulfil the contracts already signed and underway. This meant that there would still be a business for Geoff to return to when he was well enough, or if he could not return, a business that could be sold as a going concern.

In the end it took three months before Geoff could return to work on a semi-permanent part- time basis and it took five to six months for him to be back full time. The funds Geoff received allowed his company to stay afloat, meet its commitments and gave him the necessary time off work he needed in order to recover.

Although Geoff is now well and back working, the heart attack has also made him pause and think. He has come to the conclusion that life is too short and too valuable to spend every waking hour in the office, so now he works less, stresses less and spends more time with his family. 

Insurance is more than just a sum of money getting paid out. It gives you options in a situation that can often be option-less and send you down a short slope to a worse situation. In this case it gave Geoff the option to rest and recover while the business was conserved rather than being forced to immediately sell it.

I would urge you all to review your situation with an insurance adviser, especially the needs of your business if you are a business owner. Make sure these are reviewed annually and that you are making informed decisions about what you will and won’t be covered for. 

If you haven’t seen your insurance adviser for over 12 months, either call and tell them that you need to meet and review your cover, or, if you need an advisor who you can trust, one that will review your cover annually and make sure it is done right, then feel free to give me a call.