When key person cover becomes personal for business owners

At Elephants Child, we've long emphasised to businesses the importance of key person insurance and related policies such as critical illness cover. In November 2024, our own business learned first-hand why this matters and just how important a good policy is.

I'd often spoken to business owners about the importance of protecting the people who are critical to the success of a business, advising them to consider key person cover and critical illness insurance – because we’ve seen the disruption that can happen when someone central to an organisation is suddenly unable to work.

What I didn’t expect was to experience the reality of that myself.

When I was unexpectedly diagnosed with a potentially fatal heart condition in September 2024, the advice we had given to so many clients suddenly became very real for us.

The impact of a key person being out of the business goes far beyond finances. Of course, there are commercial implications, but there is also the operational disruption, the pressure on leadership, and the effect it has on the wider team culturally and emotionally. In many ways, critical illness can be harder for a business to navigate than bereavement.

As strange as that sounds, with bereavement there is usually clarity. However difficult the situation may be, businesses know they need to recruit and restructure for the long term. With critical illness, there’s often uncertainty. You don’t necessarily know how long someone will be away, whether they will return quickly, or what capacity they’ll be able to return in. That creates a very different challenge for a business.

Thankfully, because we had the right protection in place, Elephants Child was able to navigate that uncertainty far more effectively than we otherwise could have.

One of the biggest advantages was the speed at which I was able to access treatment. When I was diagnosed, I was told the waiting time for surgery could be anywhere between nine and twelve months. But through the policy, I was able to have the operation within two months.

That made an enormous difference.

Earlier treatment improved my chances of a good outcome significantly. The quicker I could have surgery, the fitter and healthier I would be going into it, which naturally improves both the likelihood of success and the speed of rehabilitation afterwards.

But the impact wasn’t just physical; it was mental as well.

Knowing I wasn’t facing nearly a year of waiting removed a huge amount of stress and uncertainty, both for me personally and for the people around me. The operation itself was serious, and there were risks involved, but because it was handled electively rather than as an emergency, my prospects were far better.

For the business, the additional financial support from the policy removed the pressure for me to rush back before I was ready. That was hugely important. The money gave the business the breathing space it needed to let the treatment play out without making knee jerk decisions.

In the end I was able to return to work around six weeks after the operation, but I certainly wasn’t back at full speed immediately. Having the ability to ease myself back into the business gradually made a massive difference to my recovery and to the stability of the team around me.

Remarkably, despite everything, Elephants Child went on to achieve its best financial year ever. For me, that is the clearest proof of the value of key person and critical illness cover. The policy didn’t just provide financial support, it gave me the time and space to recover properly, reduced stress on the business, protected the wider team, and allowed us to continue growing during an incredibly challenging period.

It also reinforced something I’ve spent years telling clients: these policies are not just about protecting profits. They are about protecting people, stability and the future of a business when life takes an unexpected turn.

We know all too well just how valuable the right cover can be. It's a no brainer to ensure that the business is properly protected and that our people are cared for in the event of a medical emergency. It’s a win for everyone. Get advice today.

We work in conjunction with an extensive network of external growth advisers and SME specialists, such as Elephants Child, who have been carefully selected by St. James's Place. The services provided by these specialists are separate and distinct from those carried out by St. James's Place and include advice on how to grow your business and prepare your business for sale and exit.

Where the opinions of third parties are offered, these may not necessarily reflect those of St. James's Place.

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