critical illness cover / subarachnoid haemorrhage

[Guest croatiablade]

Hi , new member here

My wife aged 40 had a sah on february 24th , she had an 11 hour operation craniotomy 2 days after the c.t. scans located a burst . Annette , my wife , is now home after a month in hospital and is struggling with symptoms 3 months after her op.

I have applied through one of our critical illness cover policies for a pay out as its classed as a stroke and at the hospital they mentioned sah is a form of stroke . Does anyone know if my wife will recieve any payment as i cannot see her going back to work for a very long time .

Any help / info greatly appreciated.

Best wishes

Mark

[sallym25]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the site. Hope Annette is not having too bad a day today. I am sorry I cant help on the critical illness thing but she will almost certainly be entitled to benefits. I myself am on Disability Living Allowance and since having my SAH almost a year ago now had been receiving Employment Support Allowance. You would have to contact your local Benefit agency for this I think. I will check this with my sister, who had to do all that for me. Remember she is still very early on in her recovery and honestly, It's amazing how much the body can recover.

Look after yourself too. She needs you more than ever. Best of luck to both of you. Hope to hear more from you soon.

Sally x

[LUISA]

HI mARK and wellcome to BTG

cant help much on the legal side view I live in Spñain but sure some of the members will.

Just want to tell you it is very early stages in Annette's recovery. If she can it would be ideal she reads some of the stories in here, sure she/you will find identify something similar to what she is suffering.

Above all lots of rest and patience and keep posting

[paul99]

morning mark

welcome to btg i hope both you and Annette will benefit from the site there is so much on here and loads of friends who will support you both one month is very early days one step forwards and two back but it does get better promise

as for your question you should get a payment from the insurance as an sah does come under the stroke category but when you do claim base it on the worse day scenario because you will have more bad days then good this early on it may also help Annette if she is able to come on and meet new friends and enjoy herself but most of all take some me time as well it is going to be a long haul helping Annette so make sure you pace your self i wish you both well in Annette's recovery look forwards to hearing more from you take care and good luck

[Tina]

Hi Mark a very warm welcome to you and Annette Sorry cant help on the Critical illness as did not have it...but i know others on here did have and were covered. Wishing you both all the best....take care Tina xx

[maggie]

Hi Mark sorry I can't help with the crit/ill/ploicy either. Make sure to look after yourself too,you need to get plenty of rest you have been through a traumatic time! Tell Annette that 3 months is no time at all and to try and be a patient, patient and as frustrating as it is take baby steps. Love and Best Wishes Maggie x

[kempse]

Hello Mark,

Welcome to this site - Unfortunately, I am another one who can't answer your question.

I would have thought they should pay out if stroke is listed - insurance companies have a habit of trying to get out of paying out, but I would persist if I were you if they initially say no. I hope it doesn't turn into a battle for you as you will have enough on at the moment, but perserverence and insistence may be the name of the game. Good luck. Like others have said, it is early days and hopefully Annette will continue to improve over the coming months.

Sarah

[Louise]

Hi Mark, Warm welcome to the site...

Sorry Im anotherone that cant really answer your questions, but as others have said getting intouch with citizen advice is a good place to start they put you in the right direction....

You are in the same position as my husband I was very ill and have never been able to get back to work.

Yes SAH is a form of stroke..

hope to hear from you again on how your wife is doing...

take care of yourself though.....

[KelBel]

Hi Mark

Welcome to the site!

I hope you find some answers as well as friends on here.

I am not able to answer re.critical illness cover as it is not something I have, nor had to contend with; although like others have said, do persist with it and base any information on worst-day-scenario to ensure maximum payout due.

If the cover details stroke then I would think it includes haemorraghic stroke, which is what an SAH is classified as. It would depend on the insurance document definitions.

Good luck with Annette's continued recovery and take care of yourself too,

Kel x

[Ern]

Hi Mark.

Like the others, I can't help with the legal side of things. I didn't have any cover when I had my SAH. Sorry. But I would be interested to kow how you get on.

Good luck.

[adam]

Hi Mark

You'll be please to know that I can help on this one.

Generally speaking most critical illness policies include a stroke as a triggering event, you would need to check the policy wording to be sure, however if it is with a reasonable insurer I would go so far as saying I would be very surprised if it didn't.

In the event that it isn't included, brain damage will be, if this is the case, then it is simply a matter of asking your neuro surgeon to confirm residual brain damage...which let's face it we all have!

Incidentally I had critical illness cover and mine paid out!

If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask, I spent many years working for an insurance company, indeed they still employ me though they wont let me go to work! As such I know how to read and interpret policy wordings if required.

Hope this helps, and I hope Annette is concentrating oin recovering and leaving this stuff to you

Best of luck

Adam

[JayKay]

Sorry to hear about your wife. I truly hope the insurance pays out: I had taken out critical illness cover a couple of weeks before my SAH and they got out of it because they hadn't received the form back from my GP! talk about bad luck!! Take care and welcome to the forum!

[Guest croatiablade]

Hi Adam,

Many many thanks for your kind help. Our critical illness policy is classed as decreasing mortgage critical illness cover if that makes sense ? we would get a pay out if defined as having one of the core illnesses which a haemorrhage stroke is covered. One worry is it says on the policy which is with AVIVA ex) norwich union that it has to result in total and permanent disablement with death of brain tissue as in condition 4 of the policy of own occupation. My insurance company have wrote to the surgen for information and iam awaiting news either way if we have been succesfull in our claim.

Best wishes and many thanks for your help.

[Guest croatiablade]

Hi everybody

Wow, iam overwhelmed by the kindness from members of this forum. I cant thank you enough for your kind posts and help , its certainly the friendliest most helpful site ive ever been on.

Annette is doing ok, she has good and bad days and we are trying to deal with things day by day. Its been a very testing time for us since february . We lost our dog 2 weeks before Annettes sah and we were both still grieving his loss when out of the blue i got a call at work saying Annette had been rushed into sheffield hallamshire hospital by ambulance from her work .

Annette spent a month in the hallamshire after an 11 hour craniotomy , iam self employed and was spending all hours at work then evenings visiting Annette it was very very stressfull , then my dad had a stroke < tia > as Annette came out of hospital and its all took its toll on me. Ive had to be strong and there for Annette since shes been home but i still have to work over 10 hours a day or our bills dont get paid ) ive found it tough going and hope the insurance can help because aswell as dealing with Annettes illness ive faced problems money wise .

Once again , i really cant thank you all enough and will be reading this site eachnight and hopefully one day i will be of help to someone aswell.

Best wishes

Mark

[paul99]

mark i will pm you if you look on the right hand side click on private messages hopefully you should get good news soon just hope Annette carry s on recovering take care and for goodness sake take care of yourself your no good if you collapse through exhaustion

[tennissmithy]

Hi Mark

I had critical illness cover and yes I did get my mortgage paid off. They did go back to my doctors and consultants for more information but I didn't have to appeal or anything. This said my case was clear cut once they had all the information.

Wishing you all the luck possible.

[Janet]

Hi Mark

Welcome to the site I'm glad that you are finding it useful. As some of the others have already said it is very early on into Annette's recovery as yet. It mut be really difficult for you at the moment and finacial worries must seem to make a bad situation feel a lot worse.

I hope that the Criticallife insurance is sorted out quickly for you so at least you have one less thing to worry about. Look forward to hearing how Annette is getting on and please try to make some time for yourself as well.

[myratas]

Hi Mark

Welcome to the site, I hope you get the critical cover sorted out soon, I am sorry I don't know much about it.

I hope that Annette is making a good recovery and you should take care of yourself too.

[Angela1]

Hi Mark:-D

My partner his name is also Mark aged 40 had his Sah 4 days after your wife Annette and he is recovering so well and i am very thankful for it. Im sorry to hear about Annette having a Sah as i know exactly what your going through. I hope you get the insurance thing sorted quickly and im wishing Annette a speedy recovery.

Take Care.

[Guest croatiablade]

Hi,

Thanks to each and everyone of you for a kind welcome.

Annette is stopping at her sisters this weekend which is about 20 miles away from me ) its to give us both a break , the past 3 months are certainly taking its toll.

[michelle C]

Hello Mark

And a belated Welcome to the family for you and your wife Annette i too was taken to the Hallamshire Hospital and was there for just over three weeks then transfered back to Rotherham Hospital and then onto Rehab in the same grounds of the Hospital.

My SAH and further stroke was in nov 07.

Well hope to speak soon and hoping Annette is resting and listening to her body and as everyone has said drink plenty of water!!.

Take care the both of you

Love luck and laughter

Michelle cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Guest croatiablade]

Hi Michelle ,

Many thanks for your kind words , i hope things are getting better for you .

Annette was took to rotherham hospital when she collapsed at work 24/02/2010 after c.t. scans they rushed her to the hallamshire and 2 days later once her blood pressure was down Dr Patel operated on her ) due to the location of the burst she had to have craniotomy and it was an 11 hour operation in the end.

Iam at handsworth which is the sheffield/rotherham border.

Best wishes

Mark

[Tina60]

Hi,

I have claimed for critical illness and am still waiting for an answer. I'll post here again when I hear something x:-D

[tennissmithy]

I claimed and was paid out :-D Who is your company?? Have you still got your policy wording??

[Tina60]

I claimed and was paid out :-D Who is your company?? Have you still got your policy wording??

Policy is with Saint John’s Insurance Limited, and the wording is as follows:

Stroke *

Diagnosis of a cerebrovascular incident resulting in permanent neurological

damage. Transient Ischaemic Attacks are specifically excluded

I'm wondering if they may try and refuse it because we can't prove that there has been permanent neuroligical damage? - plus my consultant reckons SAH aren't strokes so if they get a report from him I'll have no chance! I really need the money as I work in a Children's Centre and have had my hours cut in April from 22.5 down to 7.5 cos of the budget cuts