Income Protection+

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.

Rob Gillis, Income Protection Claims Team Manager: Aviva’s purpose is with you today for a better tomorrow. Income protection really epitomises this helping our customers prepare for the unexpected. But our support goes beyond financial payout. Our claims team is trained to work out case by case what else we can do to help support a return to normality.

If it's the best thing for our customers, we can help speed up their recovery through our rehabilitation support services. This can consist of providing private physiotherapy, talk therapy and support to people on their cancer journeys.

Let's hear from my team on how they support our customers.

Emma Rickard, Senior Claims Case Manager: So, during the initial call we have with a customer, we will build a quite good rapport with them. They're normally calling us at quite a difficult time in their life. These calls can take between 20 minutes to over an hour and then you’re their case manager throughout the claim.

Claims can sometimes be a few months, and like one claim I have got at the moment is over eight years. So, you built up the rapport at the beginning and then you build that relationship as a claim goes on. So, we don't just offer financial support, we can offer sort of treatment support, we can signpost, we do really drill into what the individual needs from us.

So, I'm really lucky, I’m one of the supply leads for one of erm Working To Wellbeing. They are cancer specialists, they specialise in cancer and long term chronic conditions. So when customers come to us umm suffering with these conditions, we can actually provide them with this additional rehabilitation support from day one.

Early intervention, we know is key and the clinician would be their case manager. They can provide them with physiotherapy, home exercise, how to manage fatigue, giving them tips and advice. So it's really good service that they offer as well as us. So it's like we do it together and provide that support.

Cherry Parsons, Senior Claims Manager: So, the first call that we make with our customers really, really important to understand the full picture, we all know that actually phoning somebody new and telling them about our story or where we are is really, really difficult.

So, what we try to do from that initial call is make them feel reassured. I think as part of our team, our team are really, really caring. We all come from caring backgrounds. So before we even make the call and talk to our customers, it's really important to us that we can make some kind of a difference.

Alia: My name's Alia. I'm 39. I was born in South Yorkshire and then came up to Leeds to go to university in 2000, and stayed here, except for a year in Australia, ever since. I'm an A&E doctor. I'm a mum of two. And unfortunately, in 2017, I was diagnosed with a large brain tumour. Zara, my youngest, was about eight months old.

I went to see the brain surgeon, and he said that they could operate or they could not, but if they weren't to operate, it would be fatal. So, I didn't really there was much of a choice. That was end of June.

I had surgery in August.

Immediately after the surgery, I couldn't sit up, I couldn't swallow, I couldn't speak. It was not an easy time. So, I didn't make contact, initially, because I couldn't... I just wasn't capable of either such planning or that speech. So, my husband got in touch with Aviva, my income protection policy.

Phil: I spoke to Claire Conlin, who was brilliant. I mean, she was just so helpful and kind and reassuring and decent, which I didn't... strangely, I didn't expect, but guided me through the entire process and made it really, really easy. We would probably of lost the house if we didn’t have it.

And I didn't have to make that choice. I realised that for the first year or so after an injury like Alia had, the first couple of years, you've got a peak period of neuro rehab. You can recover better during that period if I could go to them and say, "Look, will you consider investing in lots of extra therapies for Alia, with the chance that she gets back to work and she gets better, which would be phenomenal for us as a family.

And I sent this off as not expecting anything and then came back and said yes.

And that led to a really extensive package of neurological rehab for you. For months. And you surged during that period, what you could do, things like picking Zara up.

Alia: So four days a week for four hours a day, there was a mix of physio and occupational therapy and a small amount of speech therapy. And not only was that really helpful for the skills it gave me, but they also almost hardened me to go back to work, like it meant that I felt able to commence and do something for that length of time.

Phil: It made a huge difference. And to the point whereby from my point of view, and this is a bit selfish, but I could go out the door. I could leave you and the kids without being worried. That made a massive difference to be able to, yeah. To be able to leave you guys briefly. And then I'm working nights tonight, you're looking after the kids. And that was unthinkable. That was unthinkable.

Alia: As part of what Aviva offered, they involved ergo.com, and I was allocated my own... I mean, she's an OT by background, but she managed my case and she accompanied me to work, looking at what we could do to make the workplace more accessible to me.

The back to work support probably lasted for about a year. To begin with, particularly in terms of my mobility, she was incredibly helpful at making sure I was able to access as much support as I needed. She facilitated me getting an electric wheelchair, and taxi service from work, because I didn't have a driving licence. That was all available.

When you ask our oldest daughter about the time that Alia was in hospital, she actually comes back with a series of fond, happy memories. And that, to me, is probably one of my greatest achievements in life, is that Layla, despite everything that you've gone through, and to some extent we've gone through as a family, our kids are happy, and they don't look back terrified at that period because we could be there for them as a family. I could look after everyone and I had the financial ability to do that, and to be there rather than to be at work.