Every year or so for the past twenty years, I have had Jackie Scott review our financial setup dependent on our stage of life. Going from being a couple just getting in to our first home, to being married, and then having children, Jackie always knew what was going on and she ensured we were covered for the unexpected.

That unexpected for us happened at the end of September 2014, when Wayne’s sinus operation 3 months earlier failed to improve his snoring. So after prompting him to get it reviewed, we went from going on holiday the following week to Wayne not being allowed to fly and needing a biopsy as soon as possible.

The biopsy was planned for the following Tuesday but after the Specialist put a camera up his nose and looked down Wayne’s throat on the Thursday, he couldn’t sleep so he cancelled all his appointments for Friday and called Wayne to get him in that morning to do the biopsy immediately.
After the biopsy Wayne was put into a medically induced coma, and a tracheostomy was performed to ensure he had a clear airway, as they discovered a large tumour at the base of his throat, which only had a small space on each side that he was able to get food and air down.

It was confirmed that the tumour was Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma sub type Mantle Cell. Unfortunately this is considered rare in someone his age and fitness, it is found more often in people over 60. So we were thankful he was younger and fitter, because it meant that Middlemore Hospital’s Hematology staff decided he was a good candidate for a new Cancer treatment protocol, and he was the first person to undertake it at Middlemore. At the moment he has all six cycles of Chemotherapy, and he is in the early stages of preparing for a Bone Marrow Transplant in April. Which is the final part of keeping the cancer away for as long as possible.

Overall, it is looking like he won’t be back at work until June/July. And again I am very thankful that during this journey we are on, money has never been an issue. Our Income Protection Insurance kicked in, and the amount was increased by a booster benefit for the first three months. We also had our trauma insurance pay out, which truly was a blessing not having any financial worries. This has meant that Wayne has relaxed and can totally focus on getting better, I have been able to spend all my time with him supporting him, and we both know nothing has to change financially, as it could have been very stressful if we didn’t have this insurance cover.

And this is why I am very thankful to Jackie and her team for ensuring we were covered for the unexpected. This type of cancer is truly bad luck yet we were prepared with the insurance cover we had, and that is great. I do try to be positive, and I am very conscious that things could have been much worse, if we didn’t have the right people doing the right things for us.

Now we are looking at our future with a different set of eyes and living more for making the most of now, and being thankful.

I am self-employed and have had Income Protection Insurance for 20-25 years. I recently had an operation to remove a bit of cancerous tissue which left me off work for 10 days and a further 2 weeks on light duties.

As we had Income Protection Insurance in place, we decided to apply and see if there would be any compensation paid to us. Jackie straight away sent us the forms & speedily followed up our application. To our amazement, we promptly received not one but two pay-outs. Our Income Protection and a Life insurance policy I had with Jackie had Trauma Cover attached, which also paid out. Many years before, with Jackie’s recommendation we upgraded these policies to include some trauma cover with minimal cost increase. This was a tremendous blessing and has taken the pressure off a very tight financial situation. So, it certainly pays to be insured

I would highly recommend Jackie & her team. Jackie has been advising and assisting us with financial advice regarding mortgages & insurances for over 25 years.

Jackie has the perfect combination of professionalism and the personal touch needed to put clients at ease when taking them through the important and sometimes stressful process of buying a new home.

Jackie is knowledgeable and has her finger on the pulse of the housing finance market. She is patient and takes the time to explain all the options. She is extremely prompt with responses to emails and phone calls and will make the time to call and explain all lender requirements.

I would absolutely use Jackie’s services again and continue to recommend her to friends and family.