Can you tell us about you and your family, and your links to insurance?

We are a family of four, myself, my wife, and our two children (now aged eight and fourteen). My wife is the one who works in the insurance industry as a commercial insurance underwriter. Approximately nine years ago, I was involved in an accident that led to my life-changing dramatically. I was unable to work, and my health issues became the focus of my existence, with my wife taking the role of sole provider for our family.

Due to my ill health and lack of mobility, I was wheelchair-bound. Fortunately, I was awarded benefits so that I could get a Motability car so that I could retain some degree of independence and help with school runs. However, where we live had no provision to park the car close to the house or easy access to transfer easily from wheelchair to car.

All this was a great source of anxiety for me, and we were barely making ends meet on the single income from my wife. We certainly didn’t have any means of being able to finance a driveway. My wife’s boss at the time had brought in some information about the Insurance Charity to raise awareness of the work it does. My wife read several case studies and felt the Charity may be able to help us out with our situation. I personally had reservations about contacting a charity for help, this was due to nothing other than personal pride. But, given our situation, I understood that the Charity seemed to be there to help people like us, who through no fault of their own were dealing with hard times and had nowhere else to turn for help.

What did you initially contact The Insurance Charity for?

We contacted the Charity to see if it could contribute something towards the cost of getting a driveway.

How did The Insurance Charity help you?

Much to our delight, the Charity offered to completely cover the cost of the driveway. Not only this however, it wanted to help us out on a monthly basis as it understood how dire our financial situation was and that the whole family was suffering due to my inability to work and the costs we were incurring due to my health needs.

Has your situation improved since receiving help from The Insurance Charity?

Since being supported by the Insurance Charity it has been fantastic in helping us with any unexpected costs that we have incurred. This has meant my wife and I have had fewer worries about meeting the basic costs of life and my children have been able to attend clubs they enjoy with these costs also being covered by the Insurance Charity. I have been able to focus on getting better and I can honestly say the support from the Insurance Charity has helped with that, even something so basic as allowing me to meet the cost of travel to and from regular medical appointments.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The Insurance Charity has been so supportive, offering assistance whenever we have needed it and even helping me sort my benefits entitlements. It is a big reassurance to know we have someone in our corner, that cares about us and understands the difficult situation we are in. I don’t think we would have been able to survive for much longer on the income we had prior to contacting the Insurance Charity and I know both my wife and I were struggling psychologically due to the stress we were both under.

What would you say to anyone thinking of contacting us?

I would say not to hesitate. Don’t let personal pride get in the way of asking for help, however hard this may be. It has been a godsend; we have never felt judged the entire time it has been supporting us. The Insurance Charity has always been kind, supportive, and reassuring, no matter what problems we have faced. I cannot express how grateful we are to have the Charity on our side and for the help and support it has continued to give.

*Stock image for illustration purposes and name has been changed.