How Income Protection helped Susie

Susie, a self-employed dentist, took out Life Essentials, Critical Illness Protection and, Income Protection with us for an annual amount of £40,000 with a 13-week deferred period.

Less than a year after taking out her policy, Susie contacted us while on maternity leave. She was due to return to work within a few weeks but had started experiencing symptoms she believed to be carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition causing pain/numbness/tingling in the wrists. Given the nature of her role, she was worried these symptoms would prevent her from returning to work.

At the time, Susie was awaiting a physiotherapy referral, and initial investigations hadn’t identified the cause of her symptoms. As her deferred period came to an end, she underwent an orthopaedic review and further tests to understand what was causing her symptoms.

Despite not having a formal diagnosis, our Claims Specialist worked closely with Susie, her medical team and the Chief Medical Officer to gather the evidence needed to assess her claim. This meant we were able to support her when she needed it most, without unnecessary delays.

We paid Susie’s claim in full for a month while she was unable to work. This provided valuable financial breathing space at a particularly challenging time, giving her one less thing to worry about as she focused on her recovery and adjusted to life as a new parent.

When Susie was medically ready, she returned to work on reduced hours and lighter duties. Rather than seeing her financial support stop the moment she went back to work, our return to work payments kicked in. They meant we could continue paying a proportion of her claim to help bridge the gap between her reduced earnings and her pre-claim income.

We’ve now been making return to work payments to Susie to cover her lost income for the last 7 months, and they continue today. This ongoing support has allowed Susie to gradually rebuild her working hours at a pace that works for her, while helping ease the financial pressure that can come with returning to work after illness.

Find out more about our Income Protection.

This story is real but we’ve changed the name for confidentiality.