A life insurance customer claim case study

This case study has been adapted from a real claim's details and should only be used as an illustration of how life insurance could benefit to you.

My name is Sarah. A couple of years ago my husband David and I moved to a lovely house in the suburbs of Sheffield. We knew we ought to protect against the worst happening, so we visited the Barclays branch in town and took out a life insurance policy. We didn't really want to think about anything bad happening to us as we were only 40 at the time, but it felt like the right thing to do.

David was a painter and decorator who took great pleasure in his work. He was also incredibly house-proud – always telling our friends about his grand plans for our new place. He'd been making great progress doing up the house – he’d finished the final bedroom and was about to turn his attentions to the living room.

Last November, I'd gone out shopping one Saturday. When I came back I found David lying awkwardly on the hall floor at the bottom of the stairs. He must have tripped and fallen while carrying his tools downstairs. David was rushed to hospital, but he didn't recover.

The days after David’s accident were a blur, but after a while I began to think about what I was going to do financially. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to afford the mortgage payments and everything else on my own. Thankfully, I had the life insurance policy. Once I realised that I could use the insurance pay out to help me cover my living expenses, I worried a lot less.