Our next broker hero showcase is from Richard Willan, from Altogether Financial Solutions.
Richard’s Story
In February 2020 our client called to say she was going for a check-up after she found a lump, all was going to be ok wasn’t it? It was just a check-up after all.
As a broker you automatically get that gut feeling – I did cover her for critical illness, didn’t I? After checking her policy schedule, yes, she was covered, yes, she had upgraded cover with Aviva plus we had already put it into trust. I had done a proper job.
We received ‘the’ call to say she had been diagnosed with stage 3A cancer in July this year. I was gutted. Not only was she a long-standing client but the rest of her life had now changed direction forever and the long-term impact on her life was dependent on my original mortgage and protection advice.
Our client wasn’t going to claim originally as she didn’t want to do the paperwork, so Helen our Client Services Manager assisted her in completing this, she liaised with the claims team, she was on hand each week to chase the GP report and finally in November, we got the news to confirm she was going to receive a full pay out from her policy.
In addition to this, she received back dated premiums and also any accrued interest. To say she was overwhelmed was an understatement.
Our client also had a second life only decreasing policy so we contacted Aviva to see if we could increase the sum assured and utilised the “life change benefit” feature. It’s unlikely our client will be able to apply for any new life cover in the next few years, so this additional sum assured has given her extra peace of mind and also added reassurance for her family.
I wanted to highlight the need for protection with all clients, if you sell on price they will leave on price. There are always clients that just don’t want cover and that’s fine – but we now ask them to sign a protection disclaimer prior to completion. It certainly makes them think when you say “would you prefer to be left with your home on your partner’s death or the mortgage debt?”
