Paul Hudson, CEO of Cirencester friendly, the leading income protection provider, has been a strong supporter of publishing claims statistics for some years.
He maintains these figures would help advisers and consumers make an informed choice when selecting an income protection provider.
Hudson said: "For the sake of transparency, unlike many companies in the income protection arena, we have been publishing our claims statistics for many years and Cirencester friendly is currently one of just a handful of income protection providers to do so. 2009 saw us payout 94% of eligible claims to the value of £2.6 million in sick pay benefit. Of the few declined claims, in most cases, the reason for non-payment related to non-disclosure at the time of the contract being taken out and no evidence of loss of earnings.
"It is gratifying to see just how much is being paid out for income protection products, but a detailed breakdown of all individual providers claims rates, as well as the industry wide figures, would be even more useful to consumers as well as IFAs. Claims statistics are particularly useful in determining how likely the firm is going pay-out should a policy holder have to make a claim.”
