Yesterday, whilst continuing to recover from my eye surgery, I received a large deposit into my bank account. Not quite enough to be life changing but enough to help take five years off the mortgage and that is very welcome indeed.
I had taken out a decreasing term Critical Illness Cover policy about a decade ago, and almost forgotten about it. At one point I nearly cancelled it, seeing it as a bit of a waste of money, but luckily I didn’t and I made a claim in March, shortly after my Parkinson’s diagnosis.
I wasn’t optimistic about a pay out and it took fully three months for the insurance company to come back with a decision.
As we all know, insurance companies are sticklers for their policy conditions and the wording in the terms and conditions relating to Parkinson’s was:
- A definite diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease before the age 65 by a consultant neurologist.
- There must be permanent clinical impairment of motor function with associated tremor, rigidity of movement and postural instability.
The issue was that I
didn’t yet have permanent clinical impairment, nor postural instability.
So I was pleasantly
surprised when the claims handler who finally called me with the decision
explained that their Chief Medical Officer had taken the view that it was just
a matter of time before I ticked all the boxes and therefore they would pay out
now rather than process another claim in a year or two’s time. And what is
more, the claims handler at Insurance Company “Z” was most courteous and
empathetic.
Earlier in the year it
had been a different story at Insurance Company “A”, the providers of my
employer’s private medical insurance. My
travails with them started with the very first neurology visit to Dr T (see my first post).
Straight after my
first consultation I phoned them to explain that I needed a series of tests to confirm
a possible Parkinson’s diagnosis.
“Ooh. Parkinson’s is a chronic
condition and that isn’t covered,” came the reply. It was the tone of voice that grated most, a
sort of gotcha, as if the woman was paid commission for every claim she could
turn down. She then clarified: “We’ll
cover the initial diagnosis but any ongoing treatment isn’t covered…”
I had further trouble
with Insurance Company A when it came to a routine cardiology referral to
investigate a very slight anomaly in my ECG.
I was grilled about what the tests were and why I needed them. “I’ve no idea, I’m not a doctor,” I explained
and referred them to the consultant’s secretary.
By the time they
refused to pay for me to see an orthoptist to measure the defect in my eyes, I
had had enough and lodged a formal complaint.
When the complaint
handler called me, I didn’t hold back.
“Do you know what’s it like to be told you’re going to be a cripple for the
rest of your life? I could be in a
wheelchair in a few years’ time and all your company cares about is not
paying. And you expect me to be a
medical professional and explain all my claims in detail. To think I’ve probably paid over ten thousand
pounds in premiums over the years and never made a claim until now. You’re an absolute disgrace….” And so on. To some extent I was laying it on, but I was
also genuinely angry, for obvious reasons.
After this, they
quietly paid for everything else without further challenge.
So, some insurance
companies are basically evil, but some are, dare I say it, nice.
Either way, my
insurance for anything related to my Parkinson’s has now run out. And so, whilst the news yesterday was better
than the poke in the eye I had at the start of the week, financially I’m
on my own from now on.
