Aegon Scottish Equitable has joined the ranks of insurers that have published their income protectio...
Aegon Scottish Equitable has joined the ranks of insurers that have published their income protection (IP) statistics. From September 2006 to 31 August 2007, the provider paid out a total of £4.35m on IP claims, with an overall claim approval rate of 85%.
Of the claims turned down, Aegon declined 11% due to non-disclosure and a further 89% were declined due to conditions not being met.
The firm's online application system came under scrutiny recently after a journalist had an application declined. Mark Locke, spokesman for Aegon, said that the message advisers received when they keyed in "journalism" as a profession was not as clear as the provider would like and a change would be made as soon as possible.
Locke said this showed the limitations of an online system rather than its inflexibility when there was such a wide risk range.
