On a Sunday in early August, 2012, Luella Bartlett got a sudden surprise visit from her mum and dad who lived on the other side of Auckland.
The news she was about to receive would rock her and her family’s world. This is her story of how personal life insurance helped during the toughest moments of her life.
My brother and my husband Scott were up in Bali, where my husband had gone to have some time out after going into a bad period of depression in early June. During this time I accumulated from him a stack of suicide notes, had police call outs after suicide threats, texts, emails, Skype calls, and phone calls—he was threatening to harm himself and was full of goodbyes. My brother had flown up to be with him because we were so worried about the situation, and his behaviour had become so erratic at that time, it was impossible for the kids to be around him.
I took one look at my mum's face, and still remember clearly when she said, "It’s Scott", and I knew what had happened. Until that point I had thought what we are all often told—if they are threatening it they won't do it—which I now know not to be true.
The shock of a partner committing an act of suicide is devastating to those who are left behind.
The constant ‘what if's’, the different scenarios that run through your head, imagining how it could have played out differently if professionals had adequately diagnosed and treated mental illness, and then the overwhelming coming together of those who rush to support your family.
Because it happened in Bali, coping with a situation that was already out of normal reality seem to be magnified, as it happened in a third world country. The extent of support we got from family, friends and professionals still astonishes and amazes me. A friend up in Bali, who I didn't know well at the time, dropped everything for me to drive three hours to the other side of the island to get my brother released from jail where he was being held, and to start the process of paperwork which involved translators, frustrations, tears and a few laughs along the way.
The same friend, who I will never be able to repay for her amazing kindness and support, then took my brother in while we worked through processes. This is where Dean, Tania and the BRAVEday team stepped in.
Because Scott died in Bali the costs of getting him home were significant.
The night after my mum told me, I got out the insurance policy and the first words that jumped out were something to the effect of 'intentional death is only covered after this policy has been in effect for one year'. We had held the policy only 363 days. I remember saying to my mum at the time that I hoped we were still covered, but at the end of the day it is just money.
I got lengthy personal life insurance advice from Dean the next day and went through the policy together. It made me think back to when we initially signed up with BRAVEday. We had been on a personal life insurance policy with our bank, which we had thought was a comprehensive policy. But after an initial review it quickly became crystal clear that, not only was our policy hugely expensive, but it also didn't cover us appropriately as a family with a business and young children.
We then decided to proceed with a much more comprehensive review and were given a number of options, each clearly explained to us. We were never pressured with unwanted advice, instead every question was answered thoroughly and with our personal situations at the core of the policy. The team at BRAVEday then assisted me with every part of the transfer process, so we could make sure all old policies were cancelled and there weren’t any gaps in cover.
What I hadn't realised at the time was just how thorough BRAVEday had been.
As Dean and I started walking through the policy before we submitted the claim, it was explained to me that he had taken the extra precaution of getting all stand down periods waived under our new cover when we changed policies. This meant I was still covered under the policy which I hadn't initially thought I would be.
From that point Dean and Tania took over—they were pedantic in checking every document as it came in and there was a lot. There were translators to be organised for death certificates and police reports to be checked for accuracy, and more than one certificate had to go back a number of times with spelling errors, birthdate errors and missing information. They personally came out to help me with all forms, I was kept fully informed through the whole process, even if it was just a phone call to say we haven't heard yet but we are checking regularly.
A claim that in most circumstances with most insurance companies would have been difficult was processed quickly, with compassion, and everything was taken care of to allow me to focus on my family.
It's still not unusual to get a call from Dean or Tania out of the blue with 'was just driving down the road and thinking about you so thought I would call'—in this day and age not that many companies care as much as I have found BRAVEday do.
- Luella Bartlett
Luella was able to take advantage of her insurance policy by having the right team and the right insurance at the right time. If you'd like to learn more about the kinds of insurance you should be considering, take a look at our infographic below.