We're about more than just numbers

My name is Emma from Cover My Bubble, and we are a small family business made up of my hubby, and my three best friends. We started the business in 2018, and I’ve been working in the industry since 2010. The whole reason why I set up the company is to help families, and raise awareness about the importance of insurance. So, our own personal story is we were pregnant, we were having a little girl.

And at 24 and a half weeks Lillie was born, she came early. She was quite poorly, but we managed to have that time with her for a month in the hospital before she unfortunately passed away.

So the whole reason for me to help families is to actually shout about bump cover, children's cover, because we had nothing when we lost Lillie. And it became so financially difficult for us. So, really, that's the whole reason why we started Cover My Bubble... to help as many families as possible.

So we’ve recommended Royal London to our clients for so many reasons. Obviously we talk about bump cover, which is pregnancy complications, but we like to call it something different. Children's cover -the critical illness options, you can choose standard or enhanced, and then the whole definitions, it’s simple, it's easy for clients to understand. The added benefits that families get are so needed right now. So the GP services, it's easy to book an appointment. And then you've got the mental health support as well.

Specialist nurse support through RedArc but also the servicing – so the systems are easy, the quotation tools are easy. Going through the underwriting process, again, it's just really simple and easy to use as an adviser and then clients can then just login and actually check all the documents and confirm that everything is correct. And make amendments if needed, But that portal then is there for the client’s support for the future, if they need to download the documents.

You know, register them with the LiveSmart app – it’s just so good for them to use as a client as well as me being an adviser.

In regards to the claims, it's just been great. Our clients contact myself, we then get all the claims forms sorted with Royal London directly. They have one claims assessor, and that's something else that makes it just such an easy journey for the clients at such a difficult time. So the claims assessor will work with the client directly and also with ourselves so everybody is up to date on what's needed, where it's up to, and it gets things solved quicker.

One claim we had done in three days, so imagine going through such a difficult time and that family receiving that much needed money. And so, to me, Royal London have got the whole process with claims just bob on, it really does help people at such a difficult time.

So we receive so much feedback from our clients and every other day we are tagged in posts saying they’ve booked in with the GP services, they've booked in for mental health counselling and support. We hear a lot of feedback of how easy it's been to log in to the portal with Royal London.

And so they've been able to login, they receive a code, check their details, download any documents to keep them safe, but also if they've had to change address or they've separated with a partner, they can actually change the details very easily through Royal London.

Royal London have also gone above and beyond for our clients.

One really sticks in my mind for a 14 year old girl who was having some mental health counselling sessions, and when she spoke to the specialist nurse at RedArc, she noticed that she needed more sessions.

And they booked it for her, which I just think is fantastic, it's such a personal service, but it's actually specialised to the individual, it’s not just a tick box, it's actually there to help people.

So, what we're finding with Royal London recently is that more and more cases are being accepted with a yes decision on the online portal. But even if they have to go to an underwriter to have a look at the further medical information, again, the terms are coming back quicker for a client. We're able to send client documentation over to an underwriter, so a GP report isn't needed, so that, then, is speeding things up for our clients and getting them covered quicker. So to me, as an adviser, Royal London are really helping our clients get covered by being personable and helping them get that term policy all covered. So, as an adviser, I am very confident to recommend Royal London to our clients, as I know that they will be there for them if they needed any support in the future.

My name is Sally Beresford, and I'm a chartered financial planner.

I offer holistic advice, so I'll talk to my clients about what they want from life.

Then I'll recommend solutions, including pensions and protection, to help them achieve their goals. I first met Alex and Ronnie when I came to their home for an initial consultation. 

To start with, we wanted Sally to give us some advice on Ronnie’s pension plans, but she also asked if we had any protection arrangements in place.

They already had some joint life cover, but Ronnie, as the main earner, had no income protection or critical illness cover. Our youngest was about to start a new fee paying school at the time. So, we had some additional outgoings to think about, but life was good, and we didn't have any money worries.

I explained some of the risks of not having cover – the dreaded “what ifs”, and with some encouragement from Alex, Ronnie gave me a budget to work with.

It was good to get Sally’s opinion to be honest. She's someone that I felt comfortable to talk openly with about family matters.

With the budget, I put together a multi benefit plan, decreasing life term assurance, with critical illness cover, and some income protection to age 60. 2 months later, Ronnie had a stroke.

You could say it was a complete shock for our family.

Of course, we were worried about Ronnie's health, and his road to recovery.

But we were also worried about how we’d pay the bills, the school fees and everything else. Thankfully, the protection plan covered Ronnie’s illness, and the family were able to pay off the mortgage in full, reducing the monthly outgoings significantly. It was the lifeline they really needed.

I'm on a phased return to work now, and I’ve not even needed to claim income protection, so it's all worked out for us, to be honest. Sally's been there for us through everything. She's helped us manage the claims process and reminded us of the extra benefits, like the second medical opinion, and the extra support services available.

I just can't imagine how we would have coped financially or mentally without her advice. It really has changed our lives. Building strong relationships with my clients is key to getting the right outcome, because when things change, I can help them keep their plans on track. It feels really good to change people's lives for the better.