Tim and Eleisha have been together since 2007 and in that time have been through a lot together. Through the heartache of being told they wouldn’t conceive a child naturally, to going through gruelling fertility treatments only to overcome the odds and go on to give birth to two little girls, to then be faced with redundancy when Tim’s employer went into liquidation, life has certainly thrown curve balls at them.
Though nothing could have prepared them for the diagnosis of Tim’s Stage 3 Bowel Cancer.
After undergoing surgery in November 2019, Tim and Eleisha learnt the cancer had spread into Tim’s lymph nodes. Since December, Tim has been undertaking chemotherapy at the Northern Adelaide Cancer Centre and Eleisha has taken on the role as full-time provider and carer to both of their daughters and her very ill husband.
Eleisha had purchased her first home before she met Tim, through the help of Aussie Home Loans mortgage broker Matthew Rose. So when Tim and her were ready to purchase a home together, they went to Matthew once more for his help. During the process, Matthew spoke about their options with taking out ALI's protection to cover them in case of something unfortunate occurring. Understanding the value of having that peace of mind in place, they took out ALI's protection.
“The claims process with ALI Group was fantastic. I contacted Colette a few times regarding updates on our policy and we were always kept in the loop and updated regularly on how things were progressing”.
Tim discovered he had no illness cover within his superannuation to see him through and whilst he’s been incredibly unwell, he has not been able to work. So, Eleisha’s wage needed to cover their mortgage repayments, bills, childcare and the cost of expensive chemotherapy medications. As well as out-of-pocket costs such as nausea and cramping medication, which are not covered by Medicare. Thankfully though, they were able to receive a lump sum payment by making a claim through their policy which was paid directly to them to use how and when they need.
“The payout from our claim has saved us financially. Tim was having trouble with Centrelink to receive sickness allowance and so we were not having much of an income coming in to cover our bills and the mortgage on one wage. I had a savings buffer which we were using but it was quickly beginning to diminish. When our claim was approved and we received the funds we were so relieved that we could now cover our mortgage repayments and general living expenses”.
Tim and Eleisha said if it wasn’t for ALI's protection they would have needed to take the children out of childcare, leaving a very unwell Tim with the responsibility of taking care of two young children, whilst Eleisha would have needed to arrange even more hours at work, just to try and make ends meet.
“It’s been the best financial decision for us, especially with Tim not having cover through his superannuation. Even with the assistance of my wage and the sickness allowance through Medicare, living would have been incredibly tight, I’m not sure we would have managed. If you’re a mortgage broker, please talk to your clients about their protection needs, no matter how young and healthy they are. As our Oncologist has told us, they’re seeing more and more young people (fit and healthy people) being diagnosed every day with cancer. It does not discriminate. I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to protect themselves against financial hardship”.
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.