Aviva has enhanced its heart attack definition on new critical illness (CI) policies to pay out on the diagnosis of a heart attack regardless of severity.
This removes the requirement for customers to reach a specified troponin level in order for the claim to be paid.
The move, which applies to policies taken out from 13 April 2014, follows on from a previous enhancement in July 2013 when Aviva lowered the severity threshold for heart attack claims.
Heart attacks are the second biggest reason for Aviva CI claims, accounting for 11% of claims. During 2013 Aviva paid out more than £14 million to customers who had suffered a heart attack, an average of more than £66,000 per person.
Aviva is also supporting advisers with educational materials about what happens when a person suffers a heart attack on the Aviva4Advisers and how CI can help the customer's rehabilitation process:
Robert Morrison, chief underwriter for Aviva says: "Our cover is constantly evolving to help as many customers as possible. We enhanced our heart attack definition less than a year ago to achieve this, and our latest move takes us a step further.
"This will help to prevent the situation of advisers having to tell clients that although their doctor has told them they've had a heart attack, it isn't quite bad enough to receive a payment.
"The new definition is designed to cut out complexity, making the cover even easier for customers and advisers to understand. Customers can be reassured that quite simply, if they have had a heart attack, they can make a claim."
