Zurich pays out 97% of 2017 protection claims

Zurich has announced it paid 97% of all retail protection claims last year - a payments total of £235.2m to 2,872 customers and their families - which compared to 95% paid claims in 2016 (£224.6m). Critical illness A total of 867 critical illness claims were paid in 2017 (95%), at a cost of £65.2m to the insurer. Cancer - the most common cause of critical illness pay-outs - alone accounted for 59% of CIC payments and amounted to £40m worth of claims. Heart attack was the second most common reason for claims (14%), followed by stroke (6%) and multiple sclerosis (3%). The avera...