All About Insurance

Aviva paid 99% of all protection claims (life insurance and critical illness cover) in 2011, having settled 99.7% of life and 94.1% of critical illness claims.

Overall 0.4% of protection claims were declined due to non-disclosure, breaking down as life: 0.3% and critical illness: 1%.

According to the insurer, 2011 payments totalled Ł439 million across 10,495 life and 1,568 critical illness claims.

Other key statistics for 2011 include:

The average sum paid to critical illness customers was Ł73,591.

The average age of critical illness customers was 44 years for women and 46 years for men.

Cancer remains the most common cause of critical illness claims at 67%, followed by heart attack (10%), stroke (7%), multiple sclerosis (6%) and benign brain tumour (2%).

Over the last five years, the same top five conditions have accounted for more than 92% of Aviva’s critical illness claims paid overall.

Commenting on the figures, the firm’s chief underwriter, Robert Morrison, says: “Aviva is a company that wants to pay claims and our latest figures clearly reflect this.”

Last year, the insurer introduced partial payments for new critical illness customers for two early forms of cancer: low grade prostate cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ (an early form of breast cancer).

For these conditions, claimants can receive a lump sum of up to Ł20,000.