Zurich pays 92% of CI claims

Zurich has revealed it paid 92% of critical illness (CI) claims last year.

The results are an improvement on those from the first six months of the year.

Just 8 claims, 1.2% of the total, were declined due to non-disclosure with the remaining 6.8% turned down for the definition of the condition not being met.

The non-disclosure rate has now remained static for the past three years.

In all £64.5m was paid out to 796 claimants, a slight increase on the 787 claims in 2010.

The largest single claim paid out was for £1.1m.

Of the top four conditions covered, 58% of payments were made for cases of cancer, up from 50% in 2010 and 48% in 2009.

The next three most common conditions were heart attack (9.1%, down from 11.9% in 2010 and 12.9% in 2009), stroke (5.9%) and multiple sclerosis (3.8%).

Phil Brown, head of protection and underwriting for Zurich UK Life, said: "It is very positive that we continue to pay out on a significant level of valid claims, many of those at high value, and that Zurich paid out in 92% of claims in 2011.

"With the number of claims declined for non-disclosure remaining at a constant figure, at around 1%, over a number of years, it is clear that wherever a claim is legitimate Zurich will accept it as swiftly as possible through a process that is straightforward."