Legal & General paid 97.6% of Life claims, 93.1% of Critical Illness claims and 91% of Income Protection Benefit claims during the year, paying out over £1.2 billion since 2009.
The Life Claim figures for 2012 were:
• £274 million paid in 2012 compared to £264 million in 2011
• Finalised claims increased by 279 to 5815
• There was a 5% increase in claims finalised compared to 2011
The Critical Illness figures for 2012 were:
• Total number of Critical illness claims paid 3,080
• £67,535 was the average amount paid per critical illness claim
• Average age of claimant 48 years
• Cancer remained the number one reason for a critical illness claim
The Income Protection Benefit figures for 2012 were:
• 49% of claims paid in 2012 received more than £500 of benefit each month
• Average age of claimant 42 years
• The three reasons for claiming IPB were Musculosketal, Mental illness and Neurological
Russell Whitworth, underwriting and claims director for Legal & General’s retail protection business, said: "Our priority is to help people when they are at their most vulnerable and to pay as many claims as we can, as soon as we can. Customers who are having to cope with a critical illness want the peace of mind that their claim is paid so they can concentrate on their health.
“On average we pay out 8 claims a day. We continue in our work to reduce non-disclosure and only 2.3% of claims in 2012 were repudiated purely for medical non-disclosure. 4.6% of claims did not meet the definition as set out by the ABI Best Practice for Critical Illness, to which Legal & General adheres.
“With advances in medical science more people are surviving a critical illness but it also means that they will need some form of financial support to help them during their treatment, recovery and in some cases to help them live with their illness.
“These figures show just how important critical illness cover is.”
