"I barely had to lift a finger in this process and could not be more thankful"
posted 26th October 2023
I've taken a little time to get to this stage to write up the best review I possibly can which is extremely well deserved for two people at Vita.
My story begins back in 2022 when I was I struggling to get life insurance cover due to a dermatology issue I have. I took out a mortgage end of 2021 and my financial advisor Mark at Mortgage Advice Bureau - due to my medical disclosures he recommended I speak to their specialist partners at Vita, so I received a call from my adviser, Leyth Zayed. What a kind and caring gentleman - I was thankful I had the pleasure dealing with. He is extremely patient as I was quite difficult to speak with due to working long hours, along with having not long become a father to my first child, a daughter named Romy.
For large parts of 2022, Leyth and I were emailing back and forth and having the occasional phone call. Due to my disclosures, Leyth managed to source me a temporary policy so I was mostly covered and safe whilst he took it upon himself to find me the best policy he could, whilst contacting as little he could, having the awareness of me being so busy.
After working very hard in the background, Leyth rang me in February 2023 and we finalised my policy with a mainstream insurer in the form of Aegon. We had our final phone call and went through the policy whilst I was at work, and gave him the okay to put my policy in place. I managed to get life cover for the mortgage, along with some critical illness cover for me & my child Romy. A few days later we received our policy documentation, along with a request for feedback on the service of Vita, which I was happy to do when I had time. At the point of taking out my policy, I didn't realise it would cover me for what was sadly on the horizon.
About a week after the policy started, and at the age of 1, my daughter Romy sadly fell extremely ill. We thought she had an infection in her eyes, but she got very sick and started to decline rapidly. We took her to hospital at the beginning of March 2023 and got given the most horrible news.
She was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) - this is a cancer of the blood. With this devastating news I messaged Leyth just to give him the heads up that I may be delayed in sending his review back, and gave him a brief update on my circumstances.
Later that day, I received a phone call from Paul Reed - one of the Directors at Vita. I have to say, he was also very kind, and so helpful. He could not have made my situation any easier for me considering the news id just been given. He explained about the Children's Critical Illness benefit I had on my policy, what it covers, and after taking a few basic details explained that we should be in a position to make a claim on the policy I had setup just 2 weeks before. He took it upon himself to do all the leg work and helping me make a claim. At this point I was not aware of how much I was about to receive.
My Mortgage Adviser, Mark had arranged a policy for my partner Kashia, with a different insurer so Paul kindly explained the situation to Mark and helped initiate the claim with Royal London for the same benefit of Children's Critical Illness cover.
After a few phone calls with Paul, he let me know the claim was due to be accepted, and a large monetary benefit would be payable to help make this as easy as possible financially and allow me to take some time off work and also second opinion medical advice if we were ever unsure of anything, plus access to councilors free of charge. I was amazed at how beneficial this was. I barely had to lift a finger in this process and could not be more thankful to Paul, Leyth and my new insurance company AEGON. I had only been with them for a matter of weeks, yet they didn't quibble anything about my eligibility to claim, and were so fantastic and understanding - it really made it a very easy process for me. Paul, Leyth and the team at Vita sent some small gifts in to Romy for her stay in hospital - they learned that she likes Sesame Street so sent some cuddly toys and Elmo pajamas which she absolutely loved. A kind gesture that meant a lot to us as a family.
This process took just a few weeks and I received my funds by the end of march. Having this help allowed me to spend as much time as was allowed in the hospital with my partner and our daughter. It gave me the ability to be there for her and look after her.
Things would've been very hard and extremely difficult if we didn't receive this financial, and emotional help and support. I honestly would've been in an awful place having to work and not being there for my daughter and partner - it was especially difficult for Kashia, who stayed at the hospital every single day as Romy was a breastfed child so I was unable to stay overnight.
My advice to anyone who hasn't yet got this kind of cover is to do it! You never know what is around the corner waiting for you. Luckily our daughter Romy flew through her treatment - she had 4 rounds of chemotherapy and the time we were estimated to be in hospital for was at least 6 months. She finished her treatment in 4 and a half months and she had her lines removed at the end of July. Our little fighter finally rang the bell on the 2nd August, 5 months to the date of her diagnosis.
We are back home now, and back to being a happy family and doing 'normal' things; enjoying life and have had a few holidays since. Paul and Leyth at Vita, I cannot thank you enough. Highly recommend you both, extremely professional, and genuinely nice people that care about their clients.
Mr Smart, Weston-Super-Mare
