subject: Stress impacts claims for income protection [print this page] Stress impacts claims for income protection
Stress impacts claims for income protection
London Victoria insurance have announced that they have paid over 12m in income protection claims, which is an increase on the 11.9m paid out in 2009. The national insurer famed for offering a low cost income protection quote has also announced that it paid over 9m on its in critical illness policies which is also up from 7.9m.
The insurer has indicated that the most common reason for a critical illness claim has been cancer accounting for some 63% of all applicants, followed by heart attack as the second most common condition with over 1 in 10 claims. The statistics confirm that the average payout on a critical illness policy is standing at 74,511.
Interestingly given personal stress levels often associated with a recession, the major cause of income protection claims has been mental disorders which has resulted in nearly 1 in 3 claims. Income protection policy holders should ensure their current policy covers this condition, given the importance of this category of protection. Following figures for stress, musculo-skeletal disorders accounted for 1 in 5 claims.
The average annual benefit for income protection claims stood at 15,596, with an average payouts now occurring for a 7 year period.
Head of Protection, Mark Jones, at Liverpool Victoria commented: "Our consistently high and improving claims payment illustrates our firm commitment to support people in their time of need and to limit the risk of any concern at the point of applying for a policy. Our transparency in publishing protection claims statistics reflects our policy of openness. We want to make sure that advisers and consumers alike are fully aware of why claims can be rejected so that we can all play a part in keeping rejections to a minimum."
He added that "This success is in part down to the investment in our tele-interviewing service, intelligent underwriting and exploring the reasons for non-disclosure rejections in past years and putting measures in place to reduce them.
It is clear that when applicants have to make a claim on their income protection policy they are often facing very difficult times. London Victoria insisted that during this period it "is absolutely vital that we are a provider that can be trusted, not just to pay claims, but also to treat claimants in a caring and professional manner"
