Aviva's menu of protection

On screen text:

There are times in life when we all need some extra support

whether it’s

hand-holding

spirit-lifting

worry-easing

or forward-thinking

We’re here to provide Protection that does more than insure

Protection

We’ve got it covered

 

Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited. Registered in England No.3252947. Registered Office: Aviva, Wellington Row, York. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Firm Reference Number 185896. Member of the Association of British Insurers.

Kirsty: My whole understanding of what insurance policies and insurance companies can do has changed.

Hi, my name is Kirsty. I'm in my early fifties and I was quite happily going through life, working, living at home with my dog, out and about.

Around about my 50th birthday in the march, I got a call for a mammogram, and they discovered a primary but advanced tumour, and I remember sitting with the breast care nurse who was lovely, and I remember her asking me to put my arms above my head as she drew onto the affected breast and told me that I had a large lump in there.

And I just remember looking out of the window trying to catch my breath, looking at the people walking by and thinking, life is never going to be the same.

Everything changed. It's been really hard. It's been two years out of my life now. So the last thing you want at that point in your life is to have to worry about whether or not you're going to be able to feed yourself, heat the house, run the car… and that's where the insurance policies came in.

So one of the policies was the income protection. That was just a real lifeline in many ways. There's a lot of expense that I wasn't expecting to have, like little silly things that all stack up like car parking at the hospital, maybe extra dog walking and maybe a cleaner. So that's been a big eye opener for me.

I also had critical illness cover. It's been a huge source of support in the sense that it's given me peace of mind. I hadn't even realised that there was more to the policy than just ‘just’ paying me out, paying money.

I was really surprised to get the rehab support, I had no idea that that would be included when I thought of insurance policies, I just thought of finance.

My whole understanding of what insurance policies and insurance companies can do has changed.

 

Income Protection+ offers rehabilitation services. We assess each claim and whether to offer rehabilitation on an individual basis.

Early intervention and rehabilitation support services are non-contractual benefits that Aviva can change or remove at any time.

Income Protection+ pays out if during the policy term, you’re unable to work due to illness or injury and suffer a loss of earnings as a result.

Critical Illness+ pays out if, during the policy term, you’re diagnosed with one of our list of critical illnesses that meets our definition, and you survive for at least 10 days.

For both products, there is no cash in value at any time.

Your financial adviser can explain how Aviva’s critical illness and income protection products work and when they would pay out.

Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited. Registered in England No.3252947. Registered Office: Aviva, Wellington Row, York. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Firm Reference Number 185896. Member of the Association of British Insurers.

Early intervention and rehabilitation services are not insurance products and are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority.

I’m Alex, I’m 57 years old, and in March 2024 my life changed. I was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer.

I was working, and still continue to work, for a small family run firm, with about 15 employees, as a financial adviser.

I’ve always been active. I remain an active member of the local rugby club and have a great social life, and my health seemed fine.

At the time, I had no symptoms for cancer, but my partner had been badgering me to ensure that I go and get the PSA test, to check for prostate levels in my blood.

The nurse wasn’t keen at first as it’s not a normal, automatic test.

What they found with the test results, the GP said ‘I’m not too concerned, but I think it’d be worth sending you for an MRI scan’.

At the time, I didn’t expect to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, I felt fine. But I was remarkably sanguine when they told me the news. I guess I’d prepared myself for the worst and hoped for the best.

My mind immediately turned to ‘what’s the best route for me?’

I decided that the radiotherapy route was the best route.

I also began monthly hormone therapy injections. It basically puts your hormones into the menopause state, which is an interesting experience, and thankfully just temporarily.

I had other treatments too.

I needed to pay for travel for lots of my appointments and to take time of time off work, which my employer was fantastic about.

But at the time, it was the treatment that was important, not the finances. I wasn’t thinking about how is this going to impact on my financial side.

I didn’t tell many people originally, because, I think with cancer, it’s one of those ones where, you know, you’re going on this journey on your own, to a certain extent, and, I just told a few close confidants.

It was one of my colleagues who reminded me about the critical illness cover that I have with Aviva. And that nudge was a little ironic, given it’s a policy I recommend to all my clients, but I wasn’t necessarily thinking about it for myself at that immediate moment in time.

And I must admit, I was blown away by how simple it was to claim. I completed a short form, and my case manager did the rest.

I then got notified that my claim had been accepted and payment was made.

It allowed me to have support for the costs of going to these treatments, for medical costs, and also give me the option, should I wish, to do things like pay off a mortgage, to take the pressure off you financially.

It alleviated some of the stress associated with such serious illnesses as cancer.

So I’m glad the policy was there for when I needed it. You hope never to have to claim on a critical illness, I’d rather not have claimed on the critical illness policy, but when I need to, it was there for me.

Having now become a statistic, I now know at first-hand how important it is to have that critical illness in place.

 

For more information on Aviva Critical illness cover, contact your financial adviser or your usual Aviva contact. Or visit us online, by searching Aviva advisers.

Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited. Registered in England No 3253947. Aviva, Wellington Row, York, YO90 1WR. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Firm Reference Number 185896. Member of the Association of British Insurers.

 

 

Emma: I went for the results, and the consultant’s first words when I sat down in the office were, “I’m really sorry. It’s not good news.”

Emma: I'm Emma, I'm a children's nurse. I’m currently working in education. I have grown-up children 23 and 25, and I'm currently undergoing treatments for lobular breast cancer.

Emma: I had some lumps in my breast. I had an operation to remove what they thought was three fibroadenomas. They'd removed the fibroadenomas, but they'd found invasive lobular carcinoma.

Emma: That was a big shock because I really wasn't expecting that. My second operation was planned. It was quite an extensive operation, but unfortunately, when I got the results of that one, they'd found five different tumours, quite a lot more cancer than they had expected. They'd also found that it was in my sentinel lymph nodes. I had to have a mastectomy and they checked some more lymph nodes, again, not expecting them to be positive, but there were a couple that were positive.

Emma: I started chemo, and then I'll still need some radiotherapy and I’ll need some hormone therapy, probably more long-term. This was all quite a lot because originally, I was told I'd need about eight weeks off work. I looked at my critical illness insurance. Your head is in a spin with everything going on, but that was the one thing that looked positive.

Emma: There's not very many positives about being diagnosed with breast cancer, and there's so many worries that you have, but actually, this was something that I could do actively. The claim process was really easy. When the claim was paid, it was a lot of relief. I was very lucky, and I get good sick benefit, I get six months full pay, six months half pay, but I realized that I would probably be going to half pay. And actually, having my mortgage paid was a complete relief.

Emma: Chronic illnesses take a long time. You need the cover, to cover you while you're ill. It's an expense you can't afford not to take. But I'm just so grateful that we bought that policy.

Critical illness insurance pays out a lump sum and is designed to help support you and your family financially.

It’s there to help you focus on your recovery without worrying about how the bills will be paid.

You can choose how long you want the policy to last and the amount of money you’re covered for.

Your financial adviser can explain how Aviva’s critical illness works and when it would pay out.

Rob: Mick, you've been on a real journey. Do you mind just telling us a little bit about how life was looking for you.

Mick: Yeah, sure. I guess before it happened, leading up to the age of 50, I had very active life. I was a commercial manager. I loved sport, so I'd play anything I could. Mainly football. I guess I've been having a few back initial issues. And then at 50, it was a go karting day out, so I joined in, after 45 minutes on it, I was in severe pain, agonizing pain.

A consultant back specialist advised me that a back operation might be the answer to remove the herniated disc. It was a real turning point. I got to about 56, 57. I did a lot of walking and my back went. And then it was go back, see the consultant. He gave me the bad news that the operation I had before was not possible this time round.

You now have to manage the situation. Over the next couple of years I kept trying to work full time, but I spiralled down physically, mentally. And I got to the point where I just had to say, that's enough, I'm stopping work. So I went to my pension adviser, and she advised me, I have this income protection policy, which I've forgotten.

At which point one, the financial support was amazing because it gave me a greater degree of feeling I was supporting the family and I had an income. But then they moved on to the medical support, which was amazing.

Rob: The claims case manager at the time suggested we might be able to help and whether there was any extra support through one of our suppliers Working to Wellbeing. Do you mind just perhaps telling us a little bit about what they did for you and how that's helped.

Mick: Yeah, they were brilliant. The case manager, was, superb and she put me at ease straight away. She explained that as part of the policy, I could get support with physiotherapy, and with my mental health. They basically looked at CBT, which they help me with my, ongoing depression and drew me out of that, giving me the tools both physically and mentally to start coming out of that deep low in my life. And then over a period I was able through the assistance of Aviva, the physiotherapy support and the exercises they gave me to do, get me back to working. And then they suggested I try walking football. My wife said, I've never seen you so happy. I said, it was brilliant. I've got something back that I love doing.

Rob: When you took up the walking football, something happened during that that then that would be provided we extra support for you?

Mick: Yes. I ruptured my Achilles and of course that reinforced the fact that I'm so glad I've got some support here financially, medically, to get me through this. So again, I was put on a another series of physiotherapy, how to get through this, how to keep working, get me back to work very quickly.

Rob: Obviously, you took this policy out a number of years ago and at the time what was your reason for taking it?

Mick: The reason for taking it at the time was because I had a young family, a huge mortgage. And of course, you look at the risks and I think most people would like to get, cover for the what ifs in life.

Rob: Do you mind just telling us perhaps a little bit about what perhaps you felt life would have looked like had you, if not had the income protection policy now?

Mick: I dread to think, to be honest, without that, I couldn't see a way out. So with the medical support and the income support, I was able to find a way out, which I don't think I would have had if I hadn't have at that policy.

So yeah, it was life saving for me, I think. I mean, it's just it's a cushion and it was enough to see me through the pain and, help me feel like also that I am providing for the family. I'm working now albeit part time, I'm seeing people, I’m back playing walking football, so I'm in a very fortunate position. Yeah, I, I dread to think where I'd have been if I hadn't have had this policy.

So looking back, it was probably the best thing I've ever done.

So my name’s Marlena, and I’m 25 years old, I am a Protection Adviser and I have been advising now for just over 5 years.

I speak to my clients every single day, why they need protection and why it’s so important and one day I just thought Marlena you need to take your own advice.

Because when you are fit and healthy you just never know if it’s going to stay that way or if something’s going to happen in the future.

Usually I’m quite bubbly, I’m really outgoing, I love socialising, going out with my friends. But I just started to feel more run down.

Um, so I did think actually this is not like me. So I turned to my Doctors and I told them the symptoms that I was feeling. So, one of the symptoms was, you know, migraines, nosebleeds, just feeling like you’ve got no energy whatsoever even though I’ve just woken up.

But they did kind of say, have you considered long Covid but I just felt within myself no, this is just not right how I’m feeling so I did turn to my Aviva policy for support.

So within my policy, I’ve got an amazing benefit called DigiCare+ which includes a lot of benefits such as annual health check, a private doctors appointment and also dietician sessions.

But I just thought to myself, actually the main one that I need is the annual health check, first, which is a really quick finger prick test, and then after that I’ve had a full report come back to me within days which showed me exactly what potentially could be wrong.

And I went on my app and really quickly I managed to get an appointment, which was a video appointment with a Doctor and they were able to explain to me what the results meant.

Probably one of the biggest concerns was my white blood cells, which we didn’t understand why they were so low. I felt it was really important to go and get that checked out.

So I’ve called my Doctors just to say that I did go privately to have a look at what was going on.

After I’ve explained my results roughly they actually said OK maybe you do need to be seen by a Doctor, which really did open a lot of doors because the next day I had a blood test and they’ve said we need to go and investigate it further.

Once they referred me to the hospital, they then diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome.

And obviously I felt like that was actually one of my most stressful and anxious times.

I’m quite an anxious person as it is and then knowing that actually, you might not be OK was just another level of anxiety.

So within my DigiCare+ you do also have some counselling sessions included.

It was really nice just to speak to someone and again feel like you are being heard and they are listening to you.

I feel like without that DigiCare+ I would not be able to get to the bottom of my health.

With me having such a great experience with using DigiCare+, it makes the conversation with my client a lot better because they can really see the value of the benefit.

For more information on Aviva protection products and the wellbeing services available, visit us online or speak to your financial adviser or your employer.

The annual Health Check and the digital GP services are wellbeing services that are available with the Aviva DigiCare+ app that is accessible with all eligible Aviva Protection products, and the Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace app that is accessible with Aviva Group Protection products.

The apps and services mentioned are provided by Square Health. They are non-contractual benefits that Aviva can change or withdraw at any time. Terms, usage limits and residency restrictions apply.