I was three years into the business. My client was a 39-year-old man, and he had been involved in real estate. I think he felt like he got in over his head when the market tanked after the 2008 financial crash.

He killed himself on June 9. On June 20, I got a phone call from his wife. So on that day, I started the claim process, and on July 20, I had the check.

For me, it really drove home why we do what we do. I use this example all the time with new clients. If they say, “Insurance companies are a big scam — they never pay,” I use this to show that they do pay.

He left behind two sons, 3 and 6, and a 36-year-old wife. If he hadn’t had insurance, she would have been destitute. It’s been more than 10 years now since that happened, and she was able to take that money and set some aside for her boys. It totally changed her life around and took all the financial stress out of a very trying situation.

A month after he died, the wife bought an insurance policy on herself because she understood the value of it. I had discussed that with the family before, but her husband didn’t think that was something they needed.

After he died, it showed that disclosing health information was also helpful. This client had suffered from depression. He was under the care of a doctor and taking medication. This was all disclosed in the initial application. The insurance company assessed the application and determined he was low-risk and issued the policy. So when it came time for the claim, there was none of the, “You never told us this; if you had, we wouldn’t have insured you.” Everything had been disclosed.

Sometimes clients think, “I don’t want to tell them about that.” I tell them, “No, you need to tell them about that. If the insurance company knows full medical history, and they will still underwrite you and issue the policy, there can be no dispute. Just because you have some medical issue doesn’t mean you won’t get coverage.”

Heather Meszaros is a five-year MDRT member from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.

Contact Heather Meszaros at heather.meszaros@sunlife.com.