Have you ever stopped to think about what it really means to“ walk a mile in someone else’ s shoes?”
This phrase pops up in conversations, but do we grasp the depth of its message? It’ s more than just a suggestion to consider someone else’ s life. It’ s about empathy and understanding, about truly stepping into another person’ s world.
However, do we really think about the financial and emotional pressures that exist during a client’ s time of need.
Like me, if you work within the Protection industry you will speak about the different products available to meet customers’ needs on a regular basis and these conversations will naturally include not only the features of a plan but also the benefits.
How do we react when we hear about someone who is off work due to illness and as a result has also lost their monthly income?
Our initial reaction will often be … I hope they have an Income Protection plan in place. Replacing most of their lost Income is undoubtably the key area of need here. If they do have an Income Protection plan in place their income will be replaced, but can we really consider that a job well done?
Walking in someone’ s shoes
At the start I mentioned putting yourself in someone else’ s shoes. Let’ s look at an example that is based on one of our recent Income Protection claims we had here at LV =.
You work full time, you are married and have one daughter. Out of the blue you suffer a stroke and are left with limited movement in your arms and your speech has been badly impacted. The good news is you have an Income Protection plan however that won’ t start providing any monthly benefit until the 3-month deferred period has run its course.
In these 3 months your husband needs to go back to work as the household can’ t afford for him to be off work to look after you. The thought of receiving your IP benefit at some point soon is 100 % better than not. However, all you want at this point is life to get back to normal, or as close to it as possible.
What if your IP plan gave you access to immediate support, financially and emotionally? Imagine being in the above position and you also got access to:
• One-to-one support and guidance from a dedicated claims handler.
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