The average payment was more than £89,000, an increase of £10,000 compared to 2009 (£79,000).
In addition to CI claims, the company also paid out a further £272 million in life insurance to the families of loved ones who have died. This amounts to more than £400 million paid to customers and their families through Aviva’s life insurance and critical illness policies in 2010.
The proportion of CI claims paid is Aviva’s highest to date and the largest monetary value. This is as a result of the company’s commitment to paying claims and driving down non-disclosure through education of customers and advisers about exactly what is covered by its critical illness policy.
Key statistics for 2010 include:
– Aviva paid 94.7% of all critical illness claims, an increase of almost 4% since 2009.
– Total payments for critical illness policies were more than £136 million, compared to almost £118 million in 2009.
– Aviva paid out 99.6% of claims resulting from death, totalling £272 million, compared to £151 million in 2009.
– In total 1,534 critical illness claims were paid during 2010.
– Critical illness claims declined for non-disclosure of medical facts at the policy’s outset accounted for 1.6% of total claims, compared to 2% in 2009.
– Critical illness claims declined for conditions not met fell to 3.7%, down from 6% in 2009.
– Cancer remains the most common cause of critical illness claims at 68%, followed by heart attack (9%), stroke (7%) and multiple sclerosis (6%).
– In 2010 Aviva was awarded a gold rating from Munich Re (as part of an industry wide benchmarking exercise), in six out of seven assessment categories in recognition for the market leading service provided by its protection claims team.
Richard Verdin, protection director at Aviva, said: “As we’ve seen previously, the most common six conditions account for more than 94%* of critical illness claims. This has been constant for the last five years across the industry, so we are confident that we are offering the right level of cover and affordability to benefit our customers.
“As our recent marketing campaign has demonstrated, we are absolutely dedicated to ensuring families are adequately protected. Our latest CI figures clearly show the value in having protection in place, and we are proud to have been able to make a difference to these customers at such a difficult time.
“We have made great strides in our critical illness payment record in recent years and we are very pleased that our latest figures reflect our commitment to our customers. By ensuring financial support is in place, we can give people the peace of mind to concentrate on more important things at a time of great need.”
Source : Aviva Press Release
