L&G pays £31m in GIP claims, declines 3.9%

Legal & General has revealed it paid £31.3m in group income protection (GIP) claims last year with 60% of people returning to work in less than six months.

The provider also said it declined 3.9% of benefit claims and spent £2.2m in rehabilitation costs.

In 2010 60% of individuals were able to return to work within the first six months of absence, compared to 58% in 2009.

When notified of the absence within six weeks, those able to return to work climbed to 69% compared to 52% when notified later.

The £31.3m was an increase of £2.1m (7%) on the previous year (2009).

During the year, taking into account those who were rehabilitated or able to return to work, 3.9% of all GIP benefit claims were found to be invalid.

L&G said the figures highlighted the importance of early notification and reinforced the idea that six weeks is a tipping point in helping people get back to work.

Early notification, it explained, enabled the provision of appropriate specialist treatment and support to help the individual back to work.

Diane Buckley, group protection managing director at Legal & General, said: "These figures demonstrate our commitment to helping reduce absence rates, delivering specialist back to work support and providing income replacement.

"Our aim is to provide benefits to as many people as possible, and the latest figures show that we made excellent progress during 2010 towards achieving this.

"Keeping claims transparent will further aid our efforts to maintain and indeed boost these success rates," she added.