Critical Illness+

Iain: My name is Iain Greer, and this is my wife, Claire Greer.

Claire: And we've got two daughters. We've got Maisie who’s four and a half, and we've got Anna, who's just over two.

Iain: So in 2020, we decided to buy a new home.

Iain: So we actually got the keys of our property the day of lockdown about a month after that, we discovered that Claire was pregnant and that we would be due in December 2020. At that time, we went through all the normal tests, but all the tests showed Anna is going to be a perfectly healthy child. When she was born, a few days later she was diagnosed with Trisomy 21, which is also known as Down Syndrome.

Iain: We started a claim with Aviva and to make sure we knew that it was covered, which thankfully it was under the upgraded children's benefit. So with Nikki they looked after us from start to finish with the whole process. There was always someone at the end of a phone call if we needed her. She was sending emails, just updating exactly where we were with medical records, what were still outstanding. To get that phone call to say that the claim was accepted and that Aviva would be covering Anna’s Down Syndrome diagnosis was absolutely incredible. One of the regrets we do have with it with Claire's plan, we didn't include the upgraded children's critical illness benefit. There is saying the most expensive insurance is the one that you don't take and there's never been a truer word.

Iain: Four months into Anna being born Anna was then diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia as well. So it was a double blow to us.

Claire: When we realized that Anna had to go into hospital for treatment it was a huge shock. I was still on MAT leave at the beginning of it and Iain was running the business. So even just one of us had to be with Anna for 24 hours a day, while the other person had to be at home with Maisie.

Iain: We witnessed a lot of things, the pain that she had experienced, but understanding that she's got to go through this pain to feel better. And the treatment was really intense. We were really grateful for the first pay out that we received from Aviva for Anna’s Down Syndrome diagnosis. We generally didn't expect to need to go back again, but thankfully with two individual plans, we're both able to put in two separate claims, one for myself and one for Claire, which was again dealt with at the same time. You know.

So to be able to piggyback both claims, get the same information from the doctors, we were kept really well updated from Aviva the whole way through the process to know, look, we're here, this is all we’re needing once her illnesses confirmed, we'll get that off to see if it's something we can help with. And thankfully they did, we were able to get the hospitalisation benefit included as well, which was the additional hundred pounds a night, which really helped with us.

And, you know, for the 30 days pay out, quite a significant piece of money that was able to help support us while covering fuel costs and additional things that we had to pay out for while living in the hospital. The whole process from start to finish was fantastic, even to the point where there was two little teddy bears arrived for Maisie and Anna which was just one of those touches to show that someone out there is thinking of you.

Claire: That’s a lovely thought, something that was definitely not expected from an insurance company that you would think that it's, you know, think of something for young kids.

Iain: You think it's such a small detail, but in actual fact, it has a huge impact. So with the pay out that we received, we've actually invested that for Anna's future. It's going to be money that she's going to need to be able to help support her life as it goes on.

Claire: Knowing that if Anna does need something. It could be equipment or we just need to buy in anything that's a bit kind of more substantial money wise, we’ve got that to fall back on.

Iain: So after seven months of living in hospital, we got out and having that final walk through the hospital where she was able to ring a bell and all the nurses and doctors lined up something that I'll remember forever. And so now Anna is two and a half and the best way to describe her is a wee cracker. She is an absolute bundle of energy, lights up a room when everyone's in there and she's got the cutest wee face you could imagine. We actually got the news two days ago that Anna is now cancer free. So it's a huge relief for us as a family.

Iain: It's an incredible journey we've been on. We've had a lot of support from friends and family as well. But again, the financial support we’ve had from having the right type of insurance policy has made all the difference. Her whole world is turned completely upside down. Money should be the last thing anyone needs to worry about. Whenever that’s happening, you’re like how is a mortgage getting paid, how we're going to fund food, you know, is there private treatment or private physiotherapy or things that we can use to help make Anna’s life better. Having that lump sum payment now that we've got for her allows us to be able to help plan around her future and hopefully give her things that she wouldn't be able to have, had we not had the money to do so.