Linda's Story

My name's Linda Hood. I am a finance business partner for a government department. In August last year I was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which was a bit of a blow to say the least, because I hadn't had any symptoms at all, was feeling perfectly fit and healthy, was running, doing my house up, doing my garden.

I went and sent to the hospital, and that was that really. And I phoned … It was really an afterthought to be honest, because you're trying to process all this information that they're giving you. The lady I spoke to was lovely. Really, really, lovely, and very sympathetic, and great empathy, and I'm really sorry, and don't worry about it we'll deal with everything for you. We'll contact your doctors, and the hospital, and to give us all those details, and we'll make sure that we keep in touch with you.

And I cried…

….and because it was such a huge relief, because you don't know what the future's gonna hold. At the end of the day, you don't know whether the cancer's gonna come back or not. If you've got that relief in knowing that your mortgage is paid for, and you're not gonna get turfed out of your house, you are not gonna get your house repossessed it's just such a wonderful feeling, and it just means you can concentrate on looking after yourself, and getting yourself prepared for the chemo, and just coming to terms with everything, and just getting on with life, and not having to worry about where the money's gonna come from.

My whole process along the line with Aviva has just been fantastic really, the people I've spoken to, the communications methods have been great, and obviously the end result paying off my mortgage is just fantastic.

You know they ask "How are you doing? How's everything going? How's the treatment going?" I said I was about to start the chemo. I think it was the following week. Again, he said "I hope it's not too severe, and I hope you manage all right with it." So it really felt like you were a real person, and not just a number, or a statistic. It felt like they actually had an interest in you as a human being, which is something else that's really, really nice when you're going through this process… so to be treated as a human being, and for somebody to pick up on how frightened you are, or how worried you are about things, is lovely. It really is.

I have to say you hear all kinds of horror stories about insurances, but I have to say I've had no quibbles with Aviva at all. I'm living proof that they've paid out. It's been simple, easy, stress-free. It's been great.