Case Studies

Protection we hope you will never need

The importance of critical illness cover

When we talk to clients about the need for protection, we are providing them with a service we hope they will never need to use! The reality is that we do not know what the future holds. 

Protecting our family should be the priority, so it’s important, if not a little scary, to have these conversations.

One of our clients would be in a very different financial position to the one he is in today if he had not taken out some critical illness cover when he did. 

Richard took out critical illness cover as an employee benefit. He had the option to buy up to £25,000 extra cover per year at £9 per month. Cover was arranged in 2006, and unfortunately a year later he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Although an extremely tough time for him and his family, he at least had some peace of mind as he made his first claim before he underwent surgery to remove the tumour. 

He was unsure if he would be able to work again so he kept his original £50,000 cover but each year decided to top up the maximum £25,000 per year (at a £9 per month cost to him.) This was another excellent decision which he sadly had to take advantage of again, as a more serious tumour returned in 2017. At this point his cover was £350,000. Although these were employee benefits policies, he was always in the mindset to increase to the maximum allowance to give him and his family peace of mind.

This tumour was far more serious, and operating was life or death, pushing him to write a Will in his hospital bed, just in case. Fortunately, the operation was a success, but it has left him with hearing issues and slight muscle issues in his face. After the operation, the family successfully claimed for the full cover. This was the largest sum an employee of his company has ever claimed against critical illness up to 2017.

This second payment in 2017 meant that he could pay off his mortgage, have a family trip to Disney in Florida, and still have plenty of cash in reserve that he could use should recovery not go as expected. They also used some of the balance from the claim, as well as the income saved from not paying the mortgage every month, to pay school fees for a private primary school and now secondary education for their two sons.

Richard says that throughout all the issues, his wife had peace of mind that should he not make it through the operations that the family would be financially secure, and the CIC cover would be the equivalent of 5-6 years net income.

Of course, his health is more important than the money, but the point is a critical illness can happen at any time, to anyone. Having a good level of cover in place can reduce the financial pressure often caused when a claim arises. It can reduce stress and aid recovery. However, whether you and your family are protected or not is in your hands.

Richard is now an advocate for critical illness cover and sees it as essential. He has since moved jobs and, as part of the pay package, he negotiated a Critical Illness Cover and Death in Service policy for £300k.

Read more on Protection planning here.

The advice provided to our client was given after a full evaluation of their specific needs, circumstances and requirements.  The solutions provided would not be suitable for everyone and the information provided does not constitute advice.