Legal & General has released its claims stats for its protection products in 2013. The figures show £262 million paid out to individual bereavement claimants with an increase in critical illness pay outs to £153 million compared to £134 million in 2012. Likewise terminal illness claims rose to £89 million in 2013 compared to £74 million in 2012. £1.41 million was paid to income protection claimants and £1.4 million for children’s critical illness claims.
Critical Illness Claims
The total of critical illness claims paid was £153 million compared to £134 million in 2012 primarily for cancer (58.9%), heart attack (11.8%) and stroke (8.7%). The percentage of claims paid rose to 92.3% in 2013 compared to 88.7% in 2012. The average total of claims paid was £59,514 and the largest claim made was £500,000. The average age of a claimant was 47 years and the average time a policy was held before a claim was made was 8 years.
Bereavement Claims
Individual bereavement claims totalled £262 million in 2013. 98.7% of all claims were paid compared with 98.1% in 2012 helping a total of 5448 policyholders. The average value of claims was £48,000 and the largest claim was for £7.5 million.
Terminal Illness Claims
£89 million was paid to 923 terminal illness cases with cancer (94.8%) Motor Neurone Disease (2.9%) and Respiratory Failure (0.5%) the primary causes for claims. The percentage of claims paid rose to 95.7% compared with 94.4% in 2012. The average age of a claim was 54 years and the average pay out was £98,367 with the highest totalling £1 million.
Income Protection Claims
£1.41 million claims were paid overall in 2013 totalling almost £27,000 per week. The main causes were musculoskeletal (26.5%), mental health (21.6%) and neurological (18.5%) conditions. The average monthly benefit was £650 and the largest £3,443 per month. The average age of a claimant was 42 years and the percentage of claims paid rose from 90.7% in 2012 to 94.8% in 2013.
Children’s Critical Illness
£1.4 million worth of claims were paid out for children’s critical illness policies with the average age of the claimants just 9 years old and the average time a policy had been in force before claiming 5 years.
Russell Whitworth, Underwriting and Claims Director, Legal & General Insurance says:
“The purpose of our cover is to be there at the time when our policyholders need our support the most. I am proud that across the board our percentage of claims paid has increased and that the payments reached customers quickly. At a time of critical illness and bereavement our customers just need to know that the financial support is going to be there so they can focus on dealing with the far more immediate and important issues. With all our claims paid percentages over 90% it is abundantly clear that is what happens and our challenge is to continue to improve that process.”
|
