Chris talks about his struggle to get his income protection insurance company to pay out after he became too ill to work.
Gloria Hunniford: Chris loves the chauffeur business he spent the last 15 years building up. But, in 2009 all of that was threatened when he had to spend three months in hospital with internal bleeding, a blood clot on the lung and suspected cancer.
Chris: This was the first time ever I’d not been able to work and to see my business financially damaged as well it was, erm, heart-breaking.
Gloria Hunniford: But, Chris was relieved that he’d taken out income protection insurance, so that in a situation where he couldn’t work he’d be covered for any financial losses. But, when he tried claiming on the policy, he was told by his insurer that it wasn’t going to pay out. As far as they were concerned, despite being bed bound in hospital, Chris was able to work.
Chris: Now, I’ve been wracking my brain for three years, and I still don’t know a job I could’ve done from a hospital bed.
Gloria Hunniford: Chris’ claim was rejected because his policy didn’t simply assess whether his ill health stopped him from doing his own work. It tested whether he was capable of doing any work, so his insurers wrote to say they’d considered whether he could do basic work tasks, such as: Walking - could he walk 200 metres on a surface without stopping or severe discomfort?
Lifting - was he able to lift a kilogram from table height and carry it five metres?
Using a pen, a pencil or indeed keyboard.
Hearing - could he understand someone speaking in a normal voice?
Speech - could he make himself understood in a quiet room?
And vision - was he able to read 16 point print using spectacles or other aids?
His insurer concluded that he was able to do two of these tasks while he was in hospital, so he could work.
Chris: As one expert said to me, medical expert ‘you’d have to be in a coma or dead to get a pay-out’. Which the likelihood of you being in a coma are very low.
Gloria Hunniford: On the basis that his doctors agreed that he was unable to work, Chris complained to the financial ombudsman service.
Chris: The ombudsman finally ruled that they should pay out and with no right of appeal the insurer had no choice but to pay up.
Quick tutor notes
A short video about Chris's discovery that his income protection insurance policy did not cover him when he had to take time off from his chauffering business due to serious illness that left him hospitalised.
The problem centred on the fact that, according to the insurance company, Chris was able to work, even though he was confined to a hospital bed at the time.
May be used in class to stimulate discussion around the featured story. Alternatively could be used to introduce the following topics:
Fact or opinion
Reading and understanding
Skimming and scanning
