As an Englishman, who made the move to Australia with his wife, settling down in the small country town of Tamworth was a big decision.
A year and a half ago, Derek and his wife decided to purchase their first home in the land of Oz. Going through a mortgage broker, they were excited to have their own slice of land down under.
When Derek’s mortgage broker discussed the risks of taking out a large debt and how preparing for the unexpected was a great way of having peace of mind, Derek and his wife agreed their best option was ALI's protection.
Not long after, Derek received upsetting news from his doctor that he had prostate cancer and he and his wife were left thinking “what are we going to do now?”.
Making a Claim
“Thankfully, my clever wife remembered we had taken out ALI's protection when we purchased our home. I had forgotten all about it, so thankfully we remembered”.
After calling ALI Group, Derek and his wife liaised with the team and were informed the payment from the claim would be forthcoming.
“We received the funds but have not used it yet, but we will very soon. I won’t be able to work for upward of four weeks because I have an operation coming up where the doctors will cut the prostate out. I have sick leave for the first two weeks but after that I’ll be using the money received from making the claim. We have put it straight into the bank for now, as a back-up in case the cancer isn’t all clear”.
“I am feeling scared about the surgery and the outcome, but it’s one of those things. I am 60 years-old, it’s probably not unusual in older men to go through this but it doesn’t make it any less hard”.
During a difficult time in Derek’s life, he and his wife are so thankful their broker spoke to them about the risks and the benefits of protecting the home they worked hard to buy.
“Excuse my French but if our broker had not let us know about ALI's protection, we would be buggered. We would have to have done something, I don’t know what though because we are foreigners, we are originally from England and have settled in Australia. So, we don’t have a lot of superannuation to draw on. We would have been poor for quite a while if we didn’t have the protection in place”.
Looking to the future, Derek finds comfort in the fact if further treatment is needed and the cancer is not clear, he now has a financial buffer keep he and his wife going whilst he is not able to return to work.
The mortgage broker difference
Derek is very grateful to their mortgage broker for speaking to them about taking out ALI's protection.
“I think it’s great my mortgage broker talks to his clients about protection. I am so glad we had the discussion about it, the offer was there, and we knew we could say no if we needed to, but if it’s not offered then you would never know it was available. I now recommend my mortgage broker to everyone, even people from work who are looking for finance”.
Derek’s story highlights how important it is to consider your protection needs, no matter your age or circumstance.
The current My Protection Plan product has been available since 5 April 2022. The above are examples of customers' claims paid on that product and similar products distributed by Australian Life Insurance Distribution ABN 31 103 157 811 (AFSL 226403). Any advice provided is general in nature and does not take into consideration your objective, financial situation or needs. You should consider these and the information in the Product Disclosure Statement (available along with the target market determination, from www.aligroup.com.au ), or speak to a financial advisor, before making a decision about our product. © ALI Group August 2022.