In support of the world's biggest men's health charity, Movember, Aegon has revealed a breakdown of the critical illness claims for men in the first six months of this year.
Aegon's claims experience revealed £10 million has been paid for male critical illness claims, with the top three causes, cancer, heart attack and stroke remaining unchanged from last year.
Cancer accounted for 50% of all claims resulting in £5 million being paid to customers.
Prostate cancer, representing nearly one in every five claims, remained the most common reason for claiming among men.
In support of Movember, Aegon has renamed its protection web pages Brotection, included the case study of three-time cancer survivor Patrick McIntosh and assembled a team to help raise funds for the charity.
Dougy Grant, Aegon's Protection Director said: "Many men simply don't want to talk about health issues or take any action and die too young. That's why raising awareness of men's health issues is so important.
"Awareness campaigns like Movember help to encourage men to take an interest in their health and catch serious health concerns early enough to be able to treat them."
He also added: "In 2014 we added early stage prostate cancer to our list of additional critical illnesses, so we can look to help more customers and create a stronger case around the importance of critical illness cover."
Patrick McIntosh, three-time cancer survivor and Director at Chartered Financial Planners, KMG, said: "I walked to the end of the world risking life and limb to raise awareness of how vital it is for men to take notice of prostate cancer and seek constant checking.
"It is a proven fact, I am the extreme example, that early detection saves untimely early death and returns all men to healthy happy fulfilling lives. Living in denial destroys men, their families and creates havoc for those left behind.
"Aegon were brilliant for me, they paid out instantly and helped me to achieve a huge amount to protect my business, my family and that got me to the South Pole and to save countless thousand of unacceptable early deaths or horrible slow painful illness.
"Without critical illness cover and income protection cover I could not have achieved any of this nor got the right treatment at the right time."
