Zurich pays 90% of income protection claims

Last year, the global insurers' UK Life business paid out nearly £14m in income protection claims to 765 customers.  

The amount paid out to UK customers for income protection is part of a total of £173m paid in protection-related claims in 2012 - including £59.9million for critical illness claims and £99.5m for death claims.

Of the 765 customers currently receiving an income protection payment, 121 submitted new claims in 2012 with ninety per cent of these claims accepted.  Fewer than 2 per cent of claims (1.7 per cent) were turned down for non-disclosure - where the applicant didn't provide all the personal information required at the outset.  The remaining 8.3 per cent were declined as the definition of disability was not met.

The top four conditions paid out on last year include cancer (18 claims), mental health (17 claims), musculoskeletal (16 claims) and severe psychiatric disorder (13 claims).

Peter Hamilton, Head of Retail Propositions in the UK said: "The publication of income protection data has been an industry issue for some time with trade bodies and insurers both keen to disclose the information in a consistent and coherent way.  While there is no formally agreed framework, which makes meaningful comparisons between insurers harder, we believe transparency is a good thing.  

"The figures reinforce the fact that the vast majority of income protection claims are paid swiftly, providing support when it's needed most. In the relatively small proportion of cases where claims can't be paid, it's largely because the level of incapacity experienced does not meet the terms of the policy.

"As a nation, we remain hugely under insured and we should be proud of the positive difference these claim payments make to the lives of our customers."  

Zurich has published its critical illness claims statistics since 2005 and last year paid out £59.9m in claims.