British Friendly paid 96% of claims over last five years

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British Friendly paid 96% of the 5000 income protection claims received over the past five years, newly released figures have revealed.

The most common reason for income protection claims was musculoskeletal conditions, which have made up between 15-20% of claims every year.

The insurer's CEO has called on all insurers to publish their claims statistics by the end of January each year.

British Friendly paid 98% of claims in 2011 and 97% in 2012, for 2010, 2013 and 2014 the insurer paid 96% of claims.

Mark Myers, CEO of British Friendly, said: "We were the very first insurer to publish claims statistics for the whole of 2014 and we are now able to share the number of paid claims for the last five years to prove that we deliver on our promises - to pay all genuine claims consistently.

Myers added: "I believe all insurers should publish their statistics by the end of January. The information is available to all insurers almost immediately so there is no reason why they shouldn't all be published in the first 30 days of each year.

"It is imperative that as an industry we demonstrate an absolute commitment to delivering excellent outcomes for our customers.

He concluded: "Seven Families is raising awareness of the vital role that Income Protection plays in protecting the things that matter. We need to reinforce these messages by showing that we will be there when it counts."

Tom Conner, director at Drewberry Insurance, said: "It is important as an adviser to know that an insurer that receives protection business will follow through on their promises.

"Long term paid claim statistics are a useful tool to demonstrate to clients that income protection policies consistently pay out and it also helps to demonstrate that insurers are not trying to decline every claim, which is how the public often perceives them."

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