"When you come close to death, you re-evaluate a lot of things."
Healthy and happy Gary, a 48-year-old, husband and father of two young children was working in the fast-paced corporate world, had just begun renovations on his family home and was going about his day-to-day life when the unexpected happened…
On a regular visit to the gym, Gary began to feel unwell after lifting weights and subsequently collapsed. Fortunately, the ambulance drivers who attended had an inclination it was more than dehydration and low blood pressure which caused Gary to lose consciousness.
They were right.
Gary was rushed to the hospital where he immediately underwent coronary artery bypass surgery and doctors worked for 12 hours to save his life.
“It was very scary - not so much for me at the time but for my wife and my kids. Then after the surgery, there was the recovery period”.
Once Gary was able to do so, he went back to work but soon realised he wasn’t going to be supported the way he needed to be whilst on the long road to recovery. Re-evaluating his situation, Gary resigned, and the financial pressure truly began to set in.
Fortunately for Gary and his family, he had taken out ALI's protection back when they purchased their first home.
"We actually didn’t know we could claim to be honest, until we looked into the policy and even then, I was sceptical. Then just before Christmas the pressure was alleviated when we received the funds.”
Since the claim, Gary has been able to take a break from full-time work and focus on his health and family. It’s also allowed Gary time to concentrate on building up his own marketing business, which he is working on part-time. Before the incident, Gary and his wife had purchased another property – with the money received from the claim they have been able to continue with their plans, without any financial burdens.
“Going through the ALI Claims process was absolutely fabulous, it was fantastic. I dealt with Colette, who was such a lovely lady. Colette genuinely cares, and the follow ups were prompt – as soon as she got good news, she would share that immediately and everything that followed was quick and efficient.”
It’s hard to think about how different life could have been, if it weren’t for Gary’s broker discussing the importance of taking out some level of protection when buying a big-ticket item such as a first home.
"I will definitely, definitely be recommending my broker to family and friends and I honestly cannot recommend ALI highly enough. It was a brilliant experience and ALI was just so fantastic with everything.”
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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.