“Insurance always seems like a waste of money until you need it,” the saying goes.
To put it another way, taking out insurance is like always carrying an umbrella. It can feel like overkill when the weather is fine; but on the occasions when the heavens open and people around you are getting drenched, it’s a relief to be able to crack open your umbrella and stay dry.
In my situation, I was 47 years of age, had been married (Sam) for 20 years, with two children aged 13 (Jackson) and 15 (Maddison) and overall, was nice and healthy. Although I love my food and red wine, I was relatively active and over the years had run three marathons, numerous long distance obstacle course races and was on the water enjoying the sailing or windsurfing most weekends. On the surface everything was great, and in my mind, everything was just as fine on the inside. Yes, I was keeping an eye on my health with regular skin checks and Doctors visits to make sure I was going to be around for a long time.
One Saturday morning in February (25th to be precise) last year, I got back from an 8km run and as I walked into our bathroom, noticed a lump under my Adam’s apple. It caught my eye and I quickly went out to see if Sam had noticed it before, which she hadn’t. Although surprised, I wasn’t worried and simply jumped online to book an appointment with my Doctor. I’m not one to muck around when it comes to health.
Cutting a long story short, from seeing my Doctor on the Monday afternoon, with a “we aren’t sure” so let’s get a blood test, it went all the way to having a 50mm Follicular Carcinoma removed (with half my thyroid) within three weeks. As you could imagine, it was such an emotional time. We made the decision to not tell the kids, and they just thought dad was having a lump removed from his neck. The scariest part of the entire experience was the rate of growth in the tumour. Between the time of the ultrasound on the 6th March to the biopsy on the 8th, the tumour had grown by 4mm!!
Working in financial services since university and achieving the Certified Financial Planning designation in the early 2000s, I knew insurance was an important part of any plan and took out insurance in my mid-twenties (22 to be exact). Initially, I had a trauma insurance policy, which covered me for events like Cancer, Heart Attack, stroke and about 20 odd other traumas and a Life Insurance policy for death. Part of my logic back then was my concern around family history (mother is type 1 diabetic) and I thought if I took cover while I was young and healthy, it would be easier to get and also protect any future family. During my studies I learnt that trauma insurance was insuring me against a probability, not a possibility – I knew the stats of people diagnosed with one of the major health concerns. How right those stats were!!
Over the years, like all people, we had tough years and the thought of cancelling our cover came to mind numerous times. Sam thought we were paying too much for our insurance, however there was no way I was going to risk it, so we simply went without other things to pay for the cover.
During my three weeks of hell, I feared the worst, but what gave me real peace was knowing that no matter what happened, Sam and the kids would be fine. Yes, they would be devasted, but I knew they would be ok. It’s amazing just how much comfort you get from knowing everything is in order, when the rest of your life appears in chaos. With our finances in order, it gave me headspace to accept it, try and relax through the process and deal with whatever came.
After the doctor called to advise the type of cancer, I became very clinical in my thinking as I knew I could lodge a claim. I booked meetings with my doctor and the specialist to get their reports within the first week after surgery, as I knew the process and what was required. Fortunately for me, I was able to claim on my trauma policy and within 4 weeks of lodging the claim the money was in my account. In addition to this, after the twelve months from claim lodgement, the policy was reinstated, meaning if I’m unlucky to see another trauma condition, I will have the ability to make another claim. Fingers crossed, I never do, but you can rest assured this policy will never lapse!!
In the scheme of things I‘ve been extremely lucky with the type of cancer, the people around me and the support I had. I wasn’t sure whether I should share my story, but with a number of trauma claims within RFS, it has brought back all the emotions. I thought I was bullet proof and was proven wrong, so for those reading this, please make sure you think about the protection side of your wealth strategy. It’s more than protecting your wealth, it’s about looking after loved ones who will need to pick up the pieces emotionally and financially. I encourage everyone who has adult children, especially those with children of their own, to have the conversation. Yes, it can be expensive, but not as expensive as going without in the event of claim and in my personal situation, the peace of mind it gave me was worth far more than any dollar value.
If you, or a loved one, would like to talk through options, please reach out as we are happy to walk you through the process. I’m also here for anyone who wants to talk, as having someone who has been through the process can make things less scary.
Greg Black
General Manager
