Social
If anyone told me I would be writing a piece relating to income protection, I would have thought I had completely lost the plot. The iSelect ad with the animated character that slides off his chair onto the ground at the mention of reviewing his health insurance cover accurately summed up my interest on the topic, and I’d certainly never considered the insurance coverage within my Superannuation Plan.That was until May last year when my partner fell ill with what we initially thought was nothing more than a case of man flu and it quickly became clear why income protection is not something that should be so easily dismissed.
Simon’s downhill slide was sudden - terribly, shockingly sudden. I woke up one morning and went to check on him and he was delirious, could barely walk and shortly after, he couldn’t speak properly. He was admitted to the ICU with pneumonia, the diagnosis being COVID-19. As his lungs continued to weaken, I received a call from the doctor telling me they had put him into an induced coma. Following numerous negative COVID-19 tests I was told Simon had tested positive for Legionella. I had heard of Legionella but didn’t know anything about it. Before I had time to do any research, I received phone calls from the Department of Infectious Disease asking me all sorts of questions that didn’t make any sense to me such as, “is he a gardener?” and “does he shower at work?” The situation was made more stressful by Melbourne’s lockdown at the time. No visitors were allowed into the ICU. My interaction with the hospital was 3 calls a day, with various nurses (all were amazing) and repeatedly being told there was no change to his condition. These calls were filled with dread that intensified every day, but I hoped the news would get better, not worse.
Somewhere in the midst of this craziness, the hospital social worker spoke to me about Simon’s financial situation. She explained to me that illnesses like this come with a long recovery time and that I needed to start planning because his bills would still need to be paid. With the social worker’s help, I made the necessary calls to his workplace HR, Centrelink, utility companies, and so on. I don’t know how many times I had to say, “he is in a coma, I can’t get him to sign that” and “no, he can’t authorise me to speak on his behalf, he is in a coma”. As Simon had started his job 3 months prior to his illness, he had no annual leave to fall back on so there was very limited financial support available there. I then thought to check whether Simon had any income protection in his superannuation plan. That changed things substantially and we were able to go down the path of submitting an income protection claim. By then, I had started my new role at Honan, and during an introductory meeting with the Life Insurance team, I mentioned my experience. When Tyler offered to advocate with the insurer on Simon’s behalf I was overcome with emotion. I hadn’t realised how much stress I had been carrying. Simon was in an induced coma for 12 days and in the ICU for 2.5 weeks. He was discharged from the hospital after a further week in the respiratory ward, a 45-year-old man with a walking frame. The Department of Infectious Disease tested the water coolers near his residence and workplace as well as testing the shower at his home. All results were negative. I learned that in 85% of cases, the source of infection is never identified. This statistic horrifies me, given the serious nature of this illness and the devastating impact on everyone involved. Thankfully Simon made a full recovery with the help of outpatient rehab and was able to return to part-time work within a few months. We both consider ourselves very lucky to have made it through this experience relatively unscathed. I will never be able to accuse him of having man flu again, and he will most definitely take advantage of that, but that’s a small price I’m willing to pay.
In Simon’s case, if he had trauma (critical illness) insurance in place, he would have been able to make a claim, which would have provided immediate financial relief for upfront medical expenses, loss of income, living expenses, etc. upon medical diagnosis. However, trauma insurance is not provided as default coverage within superannuation funds, but it is Honan Life’s most claimed life insurance product.
The other life insurance policy that could have assisted in Simon’s recovery is income protection. Simon has a policy through his Australian Super fund aligned to a default minimum income of $48,000. While the $3,000 monthly benefit will not allow him to maintain the lifestyle he had before his illness, it is better than nothing. A benefit like this continues until the individual returns to work, or the benefit period expires.
The default insurance within your superannuation fund is not aligned with your personal circumstances. For financial longevity and peace of mind, I urge everyone to review their life insurance portfolio. I’ve since had my personal and financial circumstances reviewed through Honan’s in-house life insurance division.
Find out more about how income protection works in Income Protection: Your Top Five Questions Answered and feel free to reach out to the Honan Life team at any time.
As a client of Tyler’s, I recommend making that an initial call. You will most likely find yourself involved in an insightful conversation with outcomes that make you feel significantly more secure in your financial situation should any unexpected events occur. Many of my friends and colleagues have been moved to look into their current benefits as a result of my experience and all have walked away feeling that they accomplished something important for them. It helps that Tyler is a lovely person to speak to as well!
Prepared by Rebecca Tait- Head of Client Service (VIC)
Risk Adviser
tyler.scarce@honanlife.com.au
Learn about the Golden Rules for Purposeful Life Insurance Policies.
