… “but following the operation, I’m lucky enough to have now made a full recovery so I’m able to look forward again.”

Chris, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 54, recalls the moment her worst fears were confirmed.

“It was a long and difficult day with lots of very raw emotion,” she said. “When you receive the news, you worry about everything. I worried about my family, how would they cope with the news? I worried about my work as I work for a small company and didn’t want to let them down.

I worried about myself, would I be able to make a full recovery and still be able to take my dogs on long walks?”

It wasn’t until after surgery to remove part of her bowel that, in January 2016, Chris looked at her critical illness policy with Aviva to enquire about a claim. She had set the policy up through her broker in order to pay off their mortgage if she was ever to become critically ill.

“When I took out the policy, I was the main breadwinner and I was very conscious that if something went wrong health wise we would not be able to afford to pay the mortgage,” she explained. “I hadn’t told anybody at all about the policy. Not even my husband knew anything about it.”

On the day that the funds were actually there, I remember jumping up from my chair and my husband walking past at the time and saying, “you look like you’ve found fifty quid” and I said, “well actually let me tell you a story”.

“It was all sorted really quickly with no stress. It was reassuring to know that whatever happened, the finances were taken care of allowing me to concentrate on getting better.

It just gives you that peace of mind at the time when you really seriously need some support, that you’re not going to end up worrying about money as well as all the other things that are going on in your life at the time. "

Chris says that this whole experience has changed how she is. Now there’s more emphasis on doing the right things; travelling and seeing people and doing what’s important in life.

Critical illness cover is a policy that pays out an agreed cash sum if the person covered is diagnosed with a critical illness as defined by the policy’s terms and conditions. Such payments can relieve the financial burden of having a serious illness so that you can concentrate on getting better.

For further advice and to discuss the options to protect your future, our advisors are on hand to help. Call us on 0800 612 8005 for a no obligation conversation or click here to request that we contact you.

With thanks to Aviva for sharing Chris’s story.
Aviva individual protection claims report | Spring 2017.