Bill’s Story

Bill: I’m in good health. It never helped that everybody kept on saying, boy, you’re young. My name is Bill Deacon. I sell insurance and I’m a father and have three children.

Slate: Bill Deacon,
The Deacon Group
Insurance Broker and RBC Insurance Claimant

Bill: Hardly anybody is ever prepared for the fact of being told they have cancer. And it can happen to anybody at any point in time.

Catching it early was thanks to Janet.

She was the one who actually had me do the PSA test and I failed miserably. And the second test was worse than the first. So then they sent me down for a biopsy and that’s when I learned subsequently that we had, that I actually had prostate cancer.

My mother had cancer. My father was one of ten children and the seven males almost all of them had cancer at one time or another. So I always expected that I would get cancer myself. I just never thought I would get cancer at the age of 46.

I first heard about critical illness insurance on my way to attending a life insurance conference. And I was sitting next to a fellow who was also an insurance agent. He asked me if I had purchased a policy yet and I said no I hadn’t and he said, “Well, you know, if you plan on selling the stuff, you should go buy some.”

I purchased the policy just on the basis that this fellow said it makes good sense and he was somebody I respected.

Anita: I’ve known Bill for several years on a professional level. About three years ago Bill called.

Slate: Anita Chan
RBC Insurance
Senior Life and Health Claims Analyst

Bill: I just said, “You know, Anita, I’m wondering if you could help me out here for a second.

Anita: He told me that he went to see his doctor and he’d like me to have a look at his pathology. He did qualify under our policy and he did get a one time lump sum payment.

Bill: While I was in the hospital, Janet called me up and she said, “The cheque’s arrived.” So I hadn’t even come back from the hospital yet and we already had the money in the bank. So I thought that was pretty fast service.

I think cancer affects—cancer affects more than just the individual, in terms of the emotion and the change of lifestyle.

The greatest benefit of having this insurance for me and for my family was that it alleviated any financial concern that we might have on the diagnosis of cancer. And what do I want to do here, what course of action do I want to take? Do I want to get different treatment, do I want to spend less time at work?

Anita: Everyone has a different situation, a different diagnosis. So in addition to a lump sum payment, RBC Insurance also offers three additional features. They are the best doctor service, the daily living assistance benefit, and healing the whole person kits.

Each individual doesn’t have to utilize all three of them but it’s there for them should they need it.

Bill: It gives you that freedom of choice, and freedom of choice is something that we all like to have.

If you have less choice you feel pressured, if you feel pressured you feel stress. If you feel stress, you have a harder time getting better.

You just want to deal with the emotional state because there are so many changes that go through your head. So you just want to have no concerns for the finance and just deal strictly with the emotional aspect and then you get – I think you’re way further ahead in the long run in terms of your recovery.