Mr Ling Swee Chan, 58, is not someone who needed persuasion about insurance . The self employed property consultant and estate valuer describes himself as 'a very prudent person'. He also describes life insurance as being 'a bit like a gamble that he won't wish to win'.

In May 2005, Mr Ling and his wife Margaret, headed for Alabama, USA to visit their daughter who is living there while her husband is on a year-long training attachment.

On a Saturday morning, after a game of golf, Mr Ling drove off together with his family for lunch. He slowed down as he approached a railroad crossing but his view was obscured by a number of pine trees. It was only when he was on the track that his wife started screaming for him to reverse away from an oncoming train. Seconds later, the train smashed into their car, spinning it off the tracks.

Mrs Ling was thrown from the vehicle and temporarily lost her sight from the impact of the airbag. But Mr Ling suffered far worse. He had to be cut out from the car by fire-fighters and flown to hospital by ambulance, suffering from injuries to his spinal cord, lungs, ribs and face.

A day later, under heavy sedation in a hospital in Mobile, Alabama, Mr Ling was able to move his hands which doctors saw as a good sign. Nevertheless, the outlook was not good - they cautioned that he would not be able to walk again. It was at this time that the concerns about money first appeared .

Several months later, the ongoing realities have to be faced. And it's here that Mr Ling's belief in the value of insurance - the gamble he didn't want to win - has proved its worth.

Mr Ling has worked over 24 years in the property and valuation department of UOB. In 1998, he left to join a friend who was working in real estate before starting his own company with a partner in 2003. Throughout this period, he had bought his life insurance, mainly from friends who were insurance advisers.

"When Winston Lai, an old friend and an adviser with Manulife approached me, it was only a question of how much I could afford. I was convinced about the importance of insurance even before he spoke to me ."

After the accident took place, it was his wife who pointed to the value of an adviser who would be there to assist you: "Winston took all our policies and sat down with my son, and he thrashed them out one by one and helped us to contact all of them. If you asked me to do it myself, I wouldn't know how to go about making a claim."

Mr Ling, never reluctant about insurance, has always been able to see its value but he would never have been able to know the real cost that would come to him - in personal terms and, importantly, in financial terms.

"I've always been the sole breadwinner of the family. My wife stopped work, stayed at home to look after the children after they were born."

"The money which we received from the insurance payout gave us peace of mind. We have more comfort and less worry as the insurance payout helped to defray the costs of hospitalisation and additional expenses incurred such as purchase of electric bed and commode. It also gave us a sense of security. We didn't have to worry about our next meal though I may not be able to work now. We won't be forced into a position of having to think about selling the house."

For Margaret Ling insurance used to be a reluctant expense: "Frankly speaking, I was the one initially against insurance. I always asked why we needed more.I always wondered about the value of all these policies."

"But now, thank God for insurance. That money from Manulife was the first to come in. I was then able to renovate the house because my husband cannot stay upstairs when he comes home from hospital.The house has to be ready for the wheelchair. The money also covered the hire of a ventilator costing about $500 per month which was not available outside of intensive care unit."

"I had heard so many stories about insurance companies who expect you to buy fast but are very slow to pay off. It wasn't like this with Manulife - they paid out quickly. They were the first." In their case, as with so many serious accidents, especially overseas, this speed proved very valuable.

Now, Mr Ling's views on insurance have changed. He believes that everyone should set money aside early for protection instead of buying insurance only when you can afford. His wife is convinced too.

Although their religious faith had seen them through the initial crisis, it was the life coverage which had removed their financial burden.