Insurance coverage during wartime

By Satish Sharma

In early 1990, I was trying to convince a woman to buy an insurance policy for her husband. They had two daughters, but the woman was absolutely against it. She was a hospital nurse and thought it was a bad omen to buy the policy. Her husband, who was a radiographer, kept insisting he wanted the policy, but she was very reluctant.

Eventually, the husband bought the policy without telling his wife. He told me not to tell her.

The family decided to move to Canada, so the husband left the ministry of health in Kuwait. They were supposed to travel the afternoon of August 2, but early that morning, the Iraqi armies invaded.

Everything was blocked, and the family could not travel to Canada. The husband was now unemployed and could not leave Kuwait. Fifteen days later, the ministry of health, now being run by the Iraqi army, invited medical professionals to resume their duties in the hospital. The husband saw his role as important, to take X-rays and help people with broken bones, so he reclaimed his duty.

In January 1991, the allied forces were aware this hospital was being used to treat Iraqi soldiers, so they dropped leaflets on the hospital saying they would strike in 24 hours. The husband took shelter in the basement, but he was killed when the bombs were dropped and the ceiling collapsed.

I had left Kuwait in 1990. When I returned in August 1991, the wife approached me and told me her husband had told her he bought the policy despite her skepticism. She asked if the policy was valid, and we did the paperwork to process the claim, which was about $250,000.

The most emotional moment of my life was when she came to my office with tears in her eyes and refused to accept the check. She wanted me to deliver it to her at church during Sunday mass.

“This check is very important for me and my two daughters,” she said, “but I want to accept it in front of the congregation, so everyone can realize the value of a life insurance policy, not for the person who has died but for the widow and kids who have survived.”

I must have received 1,000 blessings that day. This lady was crying and crying while accepting her check. For many years after, she sent me a thank-you note every time her children went to the next class, saying that her children were getting a proper education because of money from the policy.

Her children eventually graduated and became doctors. She kept repeating the story of how reluctant she was to buy a policy and how convinced her husband was to buy. She described how perseverant I was to sell to her despite how she abused the insurance agent and threw him out of her house.

That was the most memorable experience I ever had in the sale and delivery of a policy.

Sharma is a 25-year MDRT member from Kuwait City, Kuwait.

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