Key points
Zurich pays out £29.9m on 92% of critical illness claims made in the first half of 2015.
Income protection sees 82% of new claims paid while 98% of life claims are paid.
Zurich UK paid 92% of critical illness (CI) claims made in the first half of 2015, and 82% of income protection claims, the insurer's claims statistics have revealed.
Zurich paid 1,750 CI customers over £29.9m, 7% of claims were declined for not meeting the definition of an illness.
Less than 1% of CI claims were paid because of non-disclosure, in most of those cases customers had not disclosed ongoing treatment.
Zurich also made 15 payments to the families of children with life threatening illness, with payments totalling £290,000.
Cancer was the most common cause of CI claims, accounting for 57% of those made in the first half of 2015, while 15% of claims were for heart attacks, 7% for strokes and 5% for multiple sclerosis.
Over half of CI claims were paid within 29 days while £3.3m was paid out to policyholders within 10 days of notification.
There were 33 new IP claims made and 3,600 payments made to customers over the period, paying out £5.2m.
Two IP claims (6% of all claims) were declined where there was no loss of income, two were declined for non-disclosure.
One IP claim (3% of all claims) was declined because the customer was not in paid employment and one because the definition of an illness was not met.
Zurich paid 98% of life claims during the first half of 2015, paying over £62m to beneficiaries, 2% of claims were declined for non-disclosure.
In total Zurich paid out over £97m on protection policies in the first half of 2015.
Geoff Butcher, life chief claims officer at Zurich UK, said: "We believe it is important to publish our claim statistics to reassure customers that the vast majority of claims are paid out and why some are declined.
"We're committed to supporting customers, both in educating them on the importance of being as open and honest as possible at the application stage, and in making the claims process as smooth and simple as possible.
"This includes ongoing investment to settle claims more quickly with initiatives like increased use of text and email to provide regular updates, dedicated claims specialists and direct credits to customer bank accounts."
Further reading:
Scottish Widows pays over £190m life and CI claims
