FOR ADVISERS ONLY
He also refers to a recent case study he filmed with Royal London.
Panacea readers may recall that back in 2014 we did some work around Prostate cancer to create awareness that us guys needed to take care of ourselves based on some very personal experiences of my own.
My situation had gradually worsened, and it was decided that to improve it a procedure called a TURP, transurethral resection of the prostate, would be the best solution to the problem.
The TURP procedure sees a significant amount of tissue removed, sent to be analysed and then the results discussed with a panel of specialists to decide on any next steps. Two weeks later I returned to get the results.
“All went very well no further treatment needed, just active surveillance every 6 months” the consultant told me. “Oh, and by the way, I must tell you that you have prostate cancer, diagnosed from the tissue samples”.
I have to say this came as a bit of an immediate shock for my wife. And a delayed one for me.
I know making clients see the value of personal protection can be tricky.
A couple of days later, as another premium came out of my bank account, I was reminded that almost 25 years ago, I took out Whole of Life policies with Scottish Provident, now re-branded as Royal London, with Critical Illness Cover.
I contacted Royal London, gave the policy numbers and was told almost immediately that I was indeed covered for this and should submit a claim form which was sent to me by e mail return. It wasn’t a long form and it was clear I would need to provide proof and the consultant would be contacted
I returned the form the next day with a copy of my consultant’s letter confirming the cancer. A histopathology report was sent by the consultant shortly after. The next working day I had a call from Royal London to say the claim had been ‘admitted’ and by the end of that week the claim on both policies had arrived in my bank account.
The claim process was simply stunning. 12 working days to register, process and pay a claim.
As I said in my video, the claim process was simply stunning. 12 working days to register, process and pay a claim. I cannot speak for other insurers’ perspectives, but Royal London should be proud of the performance. The claim may not have been a million dollars but the way in which it was handled made me feel like it. Treating Customers fairly (TCF) at its very best. As a retired IFA I felt vindicated that my advice given over the years to so many clients proved good advice for me too.
Also, the claim paid was pretty much double the premiums paid, so as an investment return, not too bad at all given the cover attached to it.
The purpose of this highly personal blog is to highlight once again that guys reading this, especially if you are over 50, need to look out for the symptoms and get checked out now if any are showing.
Also, to help you raise awareness of protection with your clients. I know making clients see the value of personal protection can be tricky. They may see protection as complex or unnecessary. But hopefully this blog and the video I created with Royal London brings the benefits of protection to life by seeing it in action and what impact it’s had for me.
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Founder and CEO of Panacea
After an early career at Lloyd’s of London, he went on to learn about the importance of customer service, working for BOAC, the forerunner of British Airways, something further reinforced during his time as a broker consultant at Scottish Equitable. Derek went on to set up his own successful IFA business which he ran for 18 years before selling it in late 2006. Derek then launched Panacea in 2007.