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In total, Aviva paid out £957.5 million in individual protection claims (Life, Critical Illness and Income Protection) last year to more than 25,000 claimants. That’s equivalent to £1,800 each and every minute throughout the year.
Nearly three-fifths of Aviva’s claims by value in 2018 were for Life Insurance, with £562.7 million being paid out in life and terminal illness claims last year.
Aviva paid out 98.9% of Life Insurance claims (including Terminal Illness Cover) last year to 16,178 clients. This provides an average figure of £34,783 per claim.
Cancer accounted for more than two-fifths (41.5%) of all Life Insurance claims in 2018, with the second-most common cause of death that triggered a payout being related to cardiovascular issues. 23.7% of claimants passed away due to an illness associated with the cardiovascular system.
The third-most common cause of death last year for Aviva’s Life Insurance was respiratory illnesses, which accounted for 5.9% of deaths.
In total, Aviva paid £353.9 million to 4,930 Critical Illness Insurance claimants in 2018, which included children’s Critical Illness claims and Total Permanent Disability claims. This amounts to an average payment of £71,779 per claim.
92.6% of all Critical Illness Claims were successful last year.
Again, cancer accounted for the bulk of claims in this area, with 58.4% of Critical Illness claims resulting from cancer last year. This was followed by heart attacks (10%) and strokes (6.6% of all claims).
Children’s Critical Illness Cover is becoming an increasingly important part of many Critical Illness Insurance providers’ propositions. It’s a way of providing cover for your children as part of your Critical Illness policy, paying out lump sum if your child suffers from a pared-down list of child-specific critical illnesses as defined by your insurer. More than 1 in 20 of Aviva’s Critical Illness claims last year were for children’s benefit.
Michael Barrow
Independent Protection Specialist at Drewberry
Aviva paid out £38.2 million in Income Protection claims last year to 4,049 clients. The average age at incapacity was just 44 years old.
Mental health conditions accounted for more than a quarter of Income Protection claims in 2018 (26.5%), with musculoskeletal conditions in second place (14.9%) followed by cancer (11%).
The top two reasons for a claim – mental health problems and musculoskeletal issues – are by no means critical and so wouldn’t trigger a payout on a Critical Illness Insurance policy despite clearly being debilitating conditions.
However, because of the nature of Income Protection, which pays out for anything that medically prevents you from working, these are health concerns you can claim for with Income Protection.
While those in the industry won’t be surprised that Aviva paid nearly £1 billion in individual protection claims last year – it’s the UK’s largest insurer after all – it may come as a surprise to consumers who have the perception that insurers rarely pay claims. As you can see from Aviva’s claims statistics for 2018 this couldn’t be further from the truth, with so much paid out to support clients when they needed it the most.
Tom Conner
Director at Drewberry
