Scottish Widows Pays 98.2% of Protection Claims in 2019

Scottish Widows Pays £212m in Life and Critical Illness Claims

Scottish Widows has released its claims data for the 12 months to December 2019, with the insurer’s figures showing that it paid:

• 99.4% of Life Insurance claims
• 93% of Critical Illness Insurance claims.

Scottish Widows Life Insurance Claims in Figures…

Scottish Widows Life Insurance paid 99.4% of all Life Insurance claims it received in 2019 for a total financial payout of £128.1 million, with £13.4 million paid in terminal illness claims.

The average payout on a Scottish Widows Life Insurance policy was £42,843, while the highest individual claim totalled £566,616.

55% of all claims from women were as a result of death from cancer, compared to 41% of claims from men. Meanwhile, cardiac-related deaths accounted for 19% of claims among men compared to 9% for women.

Scottish Widows Critical Illness Claims in Figures…

Scottish Widows paid 93% of Critical Illness Insurance claims last year, paying out £84 million in total.

The average claim paid on such a policy stands at £50,181, with the highest individual claim being £501,189.

Among women, the major reasons for a Critical Illness Insurance claim were:

• Cancer (74%)
• Stroke (7%)
• Heart attack (4%)
• Multiple sclerosis (4%).

For men, the main causes of claims were:

• Cancer (53%)
• Heart attack (19%)
• Stroke (10%).

Tom Conner
Director at Drewberry

“Scottish Widows paid nearly all Life Insurance claims it received last year, declining just 0.6% of all claims it received. That should give clients peace of mind that Scottish Widows is an insurer that will be there for them and their loved ones when they need it the most.

“It’s interesting to see statistics broken down by sex. Women were more likely to suffer from cancer and claim on a Critical Illness Insurance policy and even sadly pass away from the disease, whereas for men cardiac-related claims accounted for far more critical illness claims and deaths compared to women.

“Overall, this is a great set of claims performance data from Scottish Widows, cementing its position as one of the leading providers of Life Insurance in the UK.”