There has been a lot in the news lately about how poorly income protection and life insurers are treating people who have purchased policies. Like every industry, there are bad decisions and there are good decisions. However… like our teachers, police officers and politicians, little gets said about life insurers when they do good.

Please know I am not an advocate for any life insurer or for any client. I am an advocate for good rehabilitation. And by good, I mean timely, I mean customized and I mean collaborative.

I’ve been an advocate for good rehabilitation now for 20 years. We see fads come and go, we see climate change, disability rates change, the type of conditions being claimed for change, and we see the ebbs and flows of macro-economics on rehabilitation – because, well, the ability to earn an income is actually everyone’s business.

What doesn’t change, however, is asking a simple question of a person who is on claim – ‘what can we do to help?’

In asking this question, it’s not setting anyone up for obligation that they have to help, but it does allow the claimant to feel heard, and who knows (like in the case I’m about to describe)… it might actually make a really big difference.

By asking this kind of question, a claims assessor put into motion something quite life-changing for a man. This question lead to an internal rehabilitation consultant asking a few more questions to find out that what this person needed was assistance to become linked into local mental health services. Now this person has been on claim for more than 10 years and all medical evidence tells us that returning to paid employment is unlikely. However, without appropriate, local and accessible mental health services, this man is at risk of all kinds of vulnerabilities, including homelessness.

The internal Rehabilitation Consultant then proceeded to call us and simply asked us to meet with the client and help link him into these local services. It’s a two-hour drive away, but that’s not a problem for this insurer, because they know that getting the right team onto the job means that external or outsourced rehabilitation will be short-lived.

The insurer’s referral message was clear – link this man into local services. Please understand that a life insurer has no obligation to do this. After all this man does have a psychiatrist and a psychologist whom he sees regularly. However, what the insurer understood was that due to this man’s illness, new relationships with new people and asking for help was very very difficult.

As a result, we have been able to meet with this man, and while in session with him, be on the phone to make a referral to a local service provider for an intake assessment. The client was in control the whole time, but his social anxiety was no longer a barrier.

Less than 24 hours later, the intake service calls us, and we can collaborate and share what limited information we have to ensure that this man is able to be assisted quickly and comprehensively. More importantly, we were able to identify that this man needed help in transitioning from one primary health professional to another and ensuring that his information and needs were transferred safely and effectively.

The long term impact of this single meeting on this gentleman’s long term health outcomes and his access to appropriate and timely care have been profound.

The result for this man is quite astounding. After more than 10 years on claim he has nothing but praise for his insurer, whom he reports as always being there for him and helpful. He was able to acknowledge that when he is not well, he can be difficult and sometimes he can’t do what the insurer asks of him. And yet, he feels like its OK to be ill, because his insurer understands and genuinely wants to help him.

He was very gracious in his thanks to us for traveling to meet with him, as he identified that if he was required to travel to Sydney from where he is currently living, he probably would not have been able to make the trip.

This man is now on his way to a local service that meets his needs and reduces his vulnerability. The insurer is seen as a positive influence on his health and well being, and he trusts that the insurer will do the right thing by him. He now trusts that when he asks for help, good things can happen.

He has received timely, customized services from people who are willing to collaborate for the best outcome for the claimant within everyone’s delegated authority.

Imagine how willing he will be to tell everyone about the wonderful service he has received from his insurer. How powerful will that unsolicited marketing be?

How much can you obtain from a 10 minute conversation is a question that was asked in this blog post – and in  this claimant’s experience, a 10 minute conversation can actually change a person’s life.

Just like teachers, police officers and politicians, insurers too, can get it right.