The impact of a disability waiver

Wallene T. Leek, LUTCF, LTCP, was new to the financial services profession in 2001 when she met a young woman named Kelley at church. Kelley was just getting started in real estate, and was her family’s primary breadwinner. Her husband, Doak, stayed home to care for their daughter.

Kelley knew she and Doak needed life insurance, and turned to Leek for help. “These were the first policies I had written, so I didn’t know anything about anything,” said Leek, a six-year MDRT member from Franklin, Tennessee. Leek wrote the policy applications, and her manager suggested she add a disability waiver of premium on the policies. That waiver would become critical for Kelley and her family.

As Kelley became more successful, Leek worked with her to increase her life insurance coverage. She also made sure the new coverage included a living benefits rider. In 2009, Kelley was diagnosed with a terminal, drug-resistant type of Parkinson’s disease, which slowly took away her ability to work and care for herself.

Because Kelley was no longer able to work, Leek triggered the disability waiver. Recently, Kelley became unable to get around on her own. She is now and is in a wheelchair, and Doak is her full-time caregiver. They used the living benefits rider to provide additional medical equipment for Kelley, and to allow the family to keep their home and spend time together without financial hardship.

“As sad as the whole thing is, at least Kelley’s quality of life is amazing because they don’t have to worry about finances,” Leek said.

Read more stories of insurance impacting people’s lives in the Round the Table article “Real life stories”

Written by Liz DeCarlo, Round the Table editor