When Zoe Priselac’s mother passed away from cancer during her A Levels, she witnessed firsthand how her and the rest of her family’s life might have been easier with a protection policy in place.
Priselac’s father was self-employed, her mother had no life cover, and much of the savings her family had accumulated over the years disappeared on alternative treatments when it was obvious the chemoradiotherapy hadn’t worked.
“When mum passed away, not only had dad lost the person he’d been with for 28 years since getting together aged 16, but financially he had no savings,” Priselac told FTAdviser.
Her father also hadn’t worked for the last year of her mother’s life, so he could spend time with her in her final moments.
Compounded by looming mortgage repayments and the responsibility of two teenage children - Priselac, who was nearing university, and her younger brother - the lack of any alternative income put significant financial strain on the family.
“Financial worries are the last thing you want to be dealing with when you’ve got the stress of losing a partner,” said Priselac.
“That hit home. I thought to myself, this is really important. People don't realise how important this is. Just a little bit of life cover would have made a huge difference.”
Family income benefit - a type of term life insurance which supports the family of a policyholder financially if they die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness - would have also helped Priselac’s family.
“You don’t want children to suffer financial difficulties, it’s not just about the mortgage,” she said.
‘When you’re young you think you’re invincible’
The premature death of her mother wasn’t Priselac’s only brush with sudden disaster and no safety net in place.
A few years into her career, back when she specialised in employee benefits and actuaries, Priselac fell victim to a car accident.
“I’d had surgeries, I was off work, I had PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. At the time, I didn’t have any cover in place for myself. I was young and single. You think you don't need any cover when you’re young and single because you’re invincible.”
She had some private medical care through work, but still struggled to make ends meet for a time.
It was these two experiences, one after the other, which inspired Priselac to set up her own business with one clear aim. That was, to communicate the message of protection to families and individuals, to help them avoid unexpected financial difficulty.
“I tell clients the story of my father,” said Priselac, who is now the managing director of Rotheram-based Way More Solutions.
The company name Way More points to her overarching aim, which is to provide ‘way more’ to clients than just the initial process of putting cover in place.
