Case Study: A Tale of Two Widows

We would like to share the story from our Independent Financial Adviser, Keith Parkinson, who highlights the importance and value of having the appropriate life cover in place.

The following is based on true life events and both are within the last year.

Both Widows have lost their respective partners through natural causes, both have children under the age of 5, both are trying to come to terms with the loss of their partners and the void it has created within the family unit. Both Men were under the age of 40 at the time of death and neither of them had any symptoms or historical bad health, that sadly is where the comparisons in their lives ends.

The first had in place, through myself, life assurance which paid out the sum assured allowing her to repay the mortgage on the family home, take time off work, grieve, and come to terms with her and her daughter’s loss.

This time has allowed her to make life decisions going forward and she has decided to sell the family home and move into a new property to begin a new life for them both. Although her partner will never be forgotten, she is now able to think clearly and she decided that to live in the same property they all enjoyed as a family proved too hard.

The second didn’t have any form of life assurance in place and within months of losing her partner has had to enlist family help to be able to continue to work, evenings, to support her young family on her own. She has had no time to spend with her children, no time to grieve her loss and look at what her options are going forward, as sadly the lack of any form of financial support during this period is not available to her and realistically she has no options other than to do as she is.

As a Financial adviser with over 30 years’ experience, I have sadly had to progress many claims in the event of the death of a member of a family, my first being when I was new to the industry, aged just 25, where I had sold life assurance to a client with a wife and two young children. My manager at the time said “You will never forget the first claim you make on a life assurance policy” and I haven’t.

The policy paid the sum assured and I continued to look after them through some incredibly tough emotional times and have seen the children grow, marry and have children of their own.

As a result of this first claim, I have no reservations of selling life assurance, I use the expression selling as unlike any other form of service we provide, life assurance has to be sold. It’s not anything you can see, touch or even feel any form of value from, but I cannot stress its need and in every case where I have had to progress a claim, I have always wished I had pushed harder to sell a higher sum assured as the devastation of losing anybody is beyond any level that anyone can imagine.

Within the last 12 months I have successfully progressed claims for in excess of £800,000 and over the years I have lost count of the number of claims I have had to complete. So the view that it will never happen should be firmly dismissed by my own experience within the industry.

 

The information contained in this article is based on the opinion of Continuum and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to a suitable investment strategy, you should seek independent financial advice before embarking on any course of action. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

 

 

 

 

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