Friends Life has revealed it paid £970,000 to families of children with cancer under its Child Cover benefit during 2013.
In total the insurer paid £1,471,900 to families whose children were diagnosed with a wide range of illnesses.
Two thirds of claims were cancer-related with benign brain tumour, open heart surgery and multiple sclerosis the next three most claimed for conditions.
In addition, the insurer revealed that the average pay out for a child claim was £19,625.
Chris Pollard, head of underwriting, claims and operations for Friends Life Individual Protection said: "Nothing can compensate a parent for the trauma of a seriously ill child, but being able to help families when this occurs is one of the most rewarding things we do as an insurer,"
"I am really proud that we can offer child cover benefits and cover for child specific illnesses to customers as part of our critical illness policy. Paying out almost £1.5 million last year will have really helped a lot of families when they needed it most."
