Royal London's UK protection businesses paid 98% of all claims received and made payments totalling more than £250m in 2015.
This data includes claims paid by its intermediary division (formerly Bright Grey and Scottish Provident since rebranded to Royal London); consumer division; and Co-op Insurance Services closed book of business, which was purchased in 2013.
Royal London's UK intermediary protection business paid 93% of critical illness (CI) claims, paying out over £124m during 2015.
The top five reasons for CI claims last year were cancer (63%), heart attack (10%), stroke (6%), multiple sclerosis (5%) and children's critical illness (3%).
The average age for an adult claimant was 48 years old, with an average pay-out of £81,800 and the largest claim paid was for £750,000.
The average age of a cancer claimant was 49 years old and the average age of a children's CI claimant was 13 years old.
The intermediary business also paid 94% of income protection (IP) claims with an average pay-out of £10,145. The top three reasons for IP claims were musculoskeletal conditions (34%), followed by cancer (23%) and mental health conditions (18%).
The average claimant was 43 years old, 60% were male and 40% female. Over 40% of claimants had held their plan for four years or less and the average time a claim had been in payment was just under five and a half years.
Debbie Kennedy, head of protection for Royal London Intermediary (pictured), said:
"Our latest claims data provides reassurance that claims are paid and should help boost confidence in the industry. However claims data is only part of the story and it's important we focus on the people behind the statistics. Our Helping Hand service provides individual support to help people deal with the impact of a critical illness, an income protection claim or the death of a loved one."
"All customers are offered support from RedArc nurses at the time of their claim and the value of that support is rated so highly that many claimants say the emotional support they received through the service was as valuable as the financial pay-out."
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