British Friendly has become the first insurer to publish a decade of claims statistic as it revealed that it paid 96.7% of all income protection claims since 2006.
The most common reason for claims is orthopaedic/musculoskeletal conditions (30%) followed by viral illness/respiratory (20%) and psychiatric/mental health conditions (10%) that, together, have made up 60% of claims over the decade.
The figures also show details of the age and gender profiles of claimants. Overall, men account for 56.8% of all claims. The most common age range for a claim is 50-59 years for both males and females.
Year by year figures:
| Year | % of claims paid |
| 2006 | 96.8 |
| 2007 | 96.2 |
| 2008 | 96.2 |
| 2009 | 96.6 |
| 2010 | 96.2 |
| 2011 | 97.8 |
| 2012 | 96.9 |
| 2013 | 96.2 |
| 2014 | 96.7 |
| 2015 | 97.8 |
British Friendly has also launched a video on its website that explains the claims process at advisers.britishfriendly.com.
Iain Clark, marketing and distribution director at British Friendly (pictured) said: "We believe that paying claims is the primary thing that an insurer does and, by paying 96.7% of claims over a decade, British Friendly has proven that Income Protection does exactly what the customers need it to do - pay claims.
"Our survey in May showed that only 2% of respondents believe Income Protection claims are paid more than 90% of the time by the UK's top insurers, yet the policy really does pay out that often. As our figures show, when you buy Income Protection, you can be assured that this is a product that delivers. By publishing this information we hope it will help to change consumer perceptions."
Tom Conner, director at adviser Drewberry Insurance, said: "British Friendly's data is great news for everyone who knows that Income Protection is probably the most important insurance policy a working person can own. From our annual consumer research we know that consumers still distrust insurers and vastly underestimate the amount of claims that are paid out.
"People believe that insurers look for reasons to avoid paying claims and so we need to tell them as often as possible, not only that these policies are important to have, but that they really do deliver what they promise."
Further reading
British Friendly becomes first insurer to announce 2015 claims data
