9 hours ago
JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Critical illness cover saved marathon runner Ryan
When Ryan Woolley ran his first marathon in April last year, he was delighted. Rightly so.
He completed the route around central London in an impressive three hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds. To put this into perspective, the average finish time was four hours and 27 minutes.
'I was elated,' Ryan, 32, told me. 'My family had come down from Wigston in Leicestershire to watch me, as well as my dad Andrew who had got me into running in the first place.
'I was the fittest and healthiest I had ever been, although Dad was quick to remind me afterwards that he had run the London Marathon, not once, but four times.'
Yet a week later, Ryan's life changed when he began to feel dizzy at a trampoline birthday party for his son Finn.
He went to hospital only to be told that there was nothing wrong. Discharged and sent home, he woke up the next morning feeling worse. An ambulance was called.
Ryan stayed in hospital for four days, discovering after an MRI scan that a blood clot on his brain had led to a stroke. The clot had been triggered by a hole in his heart.
Although he has made a good recovery, it has taken a while. A first attempt to go back to work in July – as a sheet metal engineer – failed. He says: 'I couldn't manage it.'
However, Ryan returned a month later, albeit on reduced hours to begin with.
He now has to take tablets to thin his blood and lower his cholesterol – and he has not run since participating in the London Marathon. He's on the waiting list for surgery to close the hole in his heart.
With two young children – Finn is seven, Zara is two – and a hefty six-figure mortgage on a three-bedroom semi, the family's household finances were stretched while Ryan was off work recuperating.
Wife Charlotte came to his financial rescue, generating income as a content creator for social media platform TikTok. As did an insurance policy that Ryan had taken out when they moved into their home in late 2021.
The Royal London policy, arranged through Andrea Drew at broker Lander Mortgage Services, was set up to financially protect the family if Ryan suffered a serious illness such a heart attack, cancer or stroke.
Such a policy is generally known as critical illness cover and typically pays out an agreed tax-free lump sum. In Ryan's case, it was £50,000. He says: 'I took it out alongside a life insurance policy designed to clear the outstanding loan on our home if either myself or Charlotte died.'
The monthly cost of the critical illness cover was £23.05 while the life policy premium was £13.23.
Both polices were written to age 70. Looking back, he says the critical illness policy was one of the best financial purchases he has ever made, adding: 'To think it cost me the equivalent of a takeaway meal every month.'
Royal London did not pay up straight away. Ryan's medical records were checked to ensure that he was not aware of the hole in his heart before he took out the cover. Yet he eventually got his £50,000 – and he now tells as many friends as possible about the protection that the cover can provide.
'I never thought I would suffer a stroke in my early 30s,' he says. 'You never know what is around the corner. The premium is a small price for the financial peace of mind it buys.'
According to the Stroke Association, one in four strokes happen to people of working age. Claims data from Royal London for last year shows strokes were the third most common condition claimed for by critical illness customers, behind cancer and heart attacks.
Edward Durell, managing director of insurer Cover Direct, says critical illness cover is more expensive than life cover because people are more likely to claim on it.
He advises buyers to check what is covered by a policy – and just as crucially what is excluded.
He adds: 'Don't rush the decision and don't pick the cheapest plan. Cover varies, so speak to an independent expert who should ensure you end up with a policy that best suits you.'
Policies cost more the older you are when you take them out.
For example, a 30-year-old who buys £70,000 of cover until age 60 can expect to pay a premium of around £26.50 a month. Someone aged 40 will pay just under £42.40. These are for non-smokers – with smokers paying more.
Three final points. It is best to take out cover in your own name – do not share cover with a partner or a spouse. With a joint plan, cover lapses after the first claim.
Secondly, try to dispel thoughts the provider will do all they can to decline a claim if you make one.
Last year, Royal London paid out £180million-plus in critical illness claims, meeting 89.7 per cent of all claims. Other providers have equally impressive uphold rates.
As a buyer, it is key to disclose any past medical issues, however trivial they might have appeared. Don't give the insurer an excuse to void any claim you make.
Finally, as Ryan told me, cover will not bankrupt you, and you may never end up claiming. But it could well save your bacon if serious illness strikes you down out of the blue – as it did for him.
A lesson for Comrade Reeves
I popped along to the AGM of investment trust VEIL (Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited) in London last Wednesday.
Last year I went and enjoyed both the venue (the magnificent Stationers' Hall, a stone's throw from St Paul's Cathedral) and the enthusiasm of Dominic Scriven, founder of Vietnam-based Dragon Capital, the trust's investment manager. Again, the location and Scriven (a big believer in the Vietnamese economy) excelled.
But the best moment of the meeting was when Sarah Arkle, VEIL's chair, said Vietnam's government debt as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product) is currently a modest 34 per cent.
'What would Rachel Reeves do for a figure like that?' she said, eliciting a round of (nervous) laughter from the audience.
The equivalent figure for the UK is around 96 per cent.
So, in communist Vietnam, private enterprise is encouraged to thrive. But in the democratic UK, we have a Labour government crushing the life out of businesses, small and large.
What a monumental cock-up.
