Why Our Advice Won the Cover Proud to Protect Award…

Drewberry is celebrating! One of our Independent Protection Experts, Samantha Haffenden-Angear (Cert CII), won the inaugural Proud to Protect Award at the November 2020 Cover Excellence Awards. We couldn’t be more proud of her.

2020 marked the first year that Cover offered the award. Cover introduced it to recognise an adviser’s achievements in going above and beyond to secure an excellent client outcome.

Samantha won for her hard work and diligence with a particular client. Firstly, she advised on a Life and Critical Illness policy with an extended children’s Critical Illness benefit. She subsequently guided him through a tricky children’s Critical Illness Insurance claim.

The Advice…

Samantha, while conducting a routine review of a client’s needs (which we aim to offer all clients after a set period), discovered the client wanted to cancel his Life and Critical Illness policy.

However, when discussing his circumstances, Samantha discovered his daughter was ill. It had taken a devastating emotional and financial toll on the family.

Fortunately, when the client bought the policy, Samantha recommended he purchase additional children’s Critical Illness Cover. Her recommendation was that he add it on in case any of his children went on to develop a critical illness.

In conversation with the client, Samantha recognised that his daughter’s illness would likely be cause for a claim under this element of his policy.

If she hadn’t taken such care after the policy went live, and shown diligence in following up, the client may well have cancelled the policy himself without consulting her. He would therefore have missed an opportunity to claim for his daughter’s illness.

Moreover, it was Samantha’s full, in-depth initial fact find that discovered the client’s need for extended children’s Critical Illness Cover in the first place.

Her approach to the case really underscores the Drewberry ethos and we couldn’t be more proud of her achievement.

Samantha Haffenden-Angear, Independent Protection Expert at Drewberry…

“When I first contacted the client, he was keen to cancel his Life and Critical Illness Cover. This was partly due to the financial strain of his daughter’s illness.

“However, he hadn’t realised that the extended children’s Critical Illness Cover I recommended meant he could potentially claim for that very illness.

“I therefore advised him to hold off cancelling the policy for the time being. Then, working with my client support colleague Anne-Marie Barleycorn, we contacted his insurer to start the claims process.

“We persisted, even though, in the insurer’s eyes, the claim was unfortunately not as cut as dry as it seemed due to the nature of his daughter’s conditions and their complexity. It took many months of liaising with the insurer’s underwriting and claims team before the insurer paid the claim.

“I’m just so pleased we could get him this successful resolution. He received a payout of £25,000 from the policy, plus an additional £3,000 in hospitalisation benefit for all the time his daughter had been hospitalised.

“Moreover, to apologise for the length of time the claim took, the insurer agreed to pay interest on the full £28,000 claim. All in all it was a fantastic outcome and I was so glad we could achieve it.

“Just knowing I’d managed it for him and his family was enough of a reward. Yet for the Cover Excellence Awards to recognise me for it takes it to a whole other level! I’d like to say thank you to all the judges and congratulations to all my peers who made the shortlist.”

Tom Conner, Director at Drewberry…

“Samantha and Anne-Marie’s approach to this client just embodies what Drewberry is all about. They captured our ethos perfectly and it paid off hugely for the client and his family.

“Given his initial conversation with Samantha, the client would likely have cancelled his policy and therefore missed out on a claim if we hadn’t followed up.

“It highlights why it’s so important for client outcomes to always think beyond the sale. That’s just what Samantha did in this case, to huge benefit for the client.

“It’s worth mentioning that Anne-Marie and Samantha achieved this outcome amidst a decamp from our office due to the pandemic. Their collaborative achievement is therefore all the more impressive as they pulled it off during a transition to remote working.

“Ultimately, I couldn’t be more proud of the way Samantha and Anne-Marie handled this case.

“We got into this business to make a real difference to clients’ lives. Time and time again we talk about how much protection matters, so it’s hugely gratifying to not only see a policy we’ve sold help a client in need, but also to receive this award in recognition of doing just that.”