For siblings Alan and Erim Lim, charity work means helping people with insurance and social security claims. Many of them involve stroke patients and accident victims who are unable to work due to partial or permanent disability.
One of their most memorable cases happened in 2016 when they received a call from Tanjung Tualang, Perak, to meet a mother of five about an insurance policy.
But what was meant to be a straightforward medical health plan for a dishwasher turned out to be a year-long mission to help his client’s husband claim for an accident injury which happened 10 years ago.
Flung off his motorcycle after hitting a pothole on his way to work, Hew Tong Choy became partially disabled and was unable to work. His wife, Pan Yaw Mooi, became the family’s sole breadwinner. Due to the family’s meagre income, their children could not go to school.
Touched by the family’s plight, the Lim siblings contacted Social Security Organisation (Socso).
Hew, a construction labourer, was not insured but his employer made regular contributions to Socso.
“We had to prove the accident had happened before age 55, which was the retirement age 10 years ago. So in 2017, Hew was called to undergo a medical examination at Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh. But the doctors said his injuries could not be more than a year old,” recalled Alan.
Unsatisfied with the results, Alan met with Perkeso to appeal on Hew’s behalf. A second medical examination proved that Hew’s injuries were sustained no less than eight years ago. Based on this report, Socso agreed to pay Hew RM775 monthly for the rest of his life. This figure was based on Hew’s last drawn salary.
“Some claims are lost because insurance agents do not have enough experience,” said Erim.
Retiree Lean Mou Hong, one of Alan’s cases, said her insurance agent’s ignorance left her struggling with medical expenses after her late husband, Lim Sou Huat, became partially disabled from a hit and run motorbike accident in 2005.
“He had a personal accident policy. But when I wanted to make a claim, the agent said my husband was not eligible as only those who had their limbs amputated would qualify,” said Lean.
Educated up to Primary 6 and only Chinese-literate, she took the agent’s word for it. A year later, Lean discovered she was misinformed. It took but five months for Lean’s husband to receive the full compensation of RM110,000.
Alan said what the family had to do was fill in a consent form that would allow the insurance company to get a medical report from University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), where Lean’s husband was seeking treatment.
Two and a half months later, the report, together with photographs, was submitted with an appeal letter. With the money, Lean was able to buy a house. Alan also helped Lean’s husband register as a disabled person with Social Welfare Department.
As such, he was able to benefit from physiotherapy sessions at National Stroke Association (Nasam) as well as UMMC. As a way of explaining their CSR effort, the Lim siblings stressed they are not giving out monetary benefits but merely helping people to claim what is rightfully theirs.
“We do not differentiate or judge. As long as the individual is entitled to his claims, we will help,” said Alan.
In one case, the Lim siblings helped Yap Wai Heng, an advertising creative director, claim up to RM111,900 in compensation for illness disability. Having languished for two years, Yap’s career had gone downhill after the left side of his body became weak.
On Alan’s urging, Yap, who had been relying on traditional Chinese medicine all this while, relented to a medical exam. The report declared that he had suffered from an ischemic stroke, allowing him to claim from his insurance company.
In their 16 years as financial planners, the Lim siblings have handled more than 110 cases. They receive no commission for these charity cases and all compensation is fully paid to the policy holder and their families.
The service is part of QAS The Talent House’s (QASTTH) CSR arm.
No comments:
Post a Comment