A key component of Zurich’s new optional, paid-for add-on service for its individual protection products was influenced by a personal experience very close to home, according to the insurer’s head of proposition innovation, Sam Wells.
Last month Zurich launched an optional, paid-for add-on service for its individual protection products to cover investigation and treatment for major conditions including treatment abroad.
Zurich Accelerate can be added to any new life, critical illness or income protection policy at the point of sale or at any point during the life of the policy and can also be cancelled at any time.
It covers cancer, heart, and neurological conditions and is supported by Further, which specialises in the design and development of health insurance products and services.
Customers who access the service will be guided through the entire process by a dedicated, clinically-trained case manager. Policyholder’s children will also be automatically covered from birth up to their 22nd birthday.
But a key component of the product is that Accelerate can also help customers access the latest precision cancer medicine and cancer clinical trials.
Sam Wells, head of proposition innovation at Zurich (pictured), spoke to Health & Protection about how his own personal experience of navigating the challenges of dealing with a cancer diagnosis and being supported through this complex journey is a key component of the design of this new product.
Start of the journey
“My journey with it all began in 2012,” Wells told Health & Protection.
“My daughter was four years old at the time. We went through a situation where she had some problems with her eyesight.
“And we went to hospitals and we were dismissed and they said, there’s nothing wrong.
“And after about three or four months of multiple referrals we eventually got a scan and unfortunately she was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of four.”
Wells, who at the time was working at another insurer designing critical illness products, said that consequently he was quite knowledgeable of medical situations, due to his previous job as a medical underwriter.
“As a family, we had an experience then which I would say was very traumatic,” Wells continued.
“We went through lots of situations where we were told we had to make decisions about things when we weren’t informed. Things were not available for us.
“The time to get to the next stage was excruciatingly long.
“Even though this was a paediatric case, it was taking a lot longer than expected.
“We were told that she needed certain treatment, but I didn’t necessarily agree with that so I got a second medical opinion at that particular point which opened up other options and doors for her.”
Lit a fire in him
That experience, Wells maintained, “lit a fire” in him to design a solution for people who cannot afford expensive private medical insurance, travel overseas for help and treatment, or do not know where to turn to next.
That led Wells to develop some ideas and one of them was around how to get access to treatment for his daughter that was not available in the UK.
“So we had a situation where our second medical opinion report said her best chance was to have proton beam therapy,” Wells continued.
“Back in 2014, proton beam therapy was not available at any hospital anywhere in the UK.
“No centres had been built and it just felt wrong.
“And the only way that we could get access to this was to pay privately to raise that fee and we had to find I think it was about £350k to do that. We couldn’t afford that.
“Therefore, we had to go through the standard treatment route, which was through our NHS which was 18 months of chemotherapy.
“And it made my daughter sicker than before she started treatment… It really scarred us a family.”
Continuous support
And the issue for Wells is that his daughter still has the brain tumour.
“I was at the hospital yesterday with her because she’d got to have another scan. The journey never ends.” Wells said.
“There is always something you need to worry about, an appointment, some scan or trying to ask the right question.”
“So what I wanted to do was build something which in my experience every time I came up against a problem or a brick wall, who could I turn to? What were the options? How could I quickly get access to the help that was needed to change the outcome for my daughter?
“My daughter lost some of her eyesight because of the treatment she had. That may not have happened if we’d had access to the treatment that we were recommended that we couldn’t get on to.”
Quick access to diagnostics
And this personal experience, Wells explained, is why Accelerate has been designed in such a way.
“So some of the parts of the proposition which I think are so, so important are around getting quick access to consultants and diagnostics at the start to alleviate any fears.
“But then, it’s actually being able to ask the right questions to get the right answers which is where the medical opinion comes in and I’ve used that. I’ve used that and it’s great.”
“That’s what we’ve built with Accelerate. That’s why it’s been done. It’s my experience.
“If Accelerate had been available back in 2012, my daughter would be a very different person today.
“That’s why I’ve built this. If we can change one customer’s life positively, then I’ve done my job as a product designer.”