Insurers paid £90m in death claims when coronavirus was at its peak, according to the latest data from the Association of British Insurers.
No amount of money can replace a human life, but the bereaved having money gives them one less thing to worry about.
Insurers received 7,000 life insurance claims, and paid £90 million – the equivalent of £980,000 every day – to support the families of people who tragically died due to COVID-19 during the height of the crisis according to latest data issued today by the ABI.
The figures collected by the ABI highlight that between 1 March and 31 May this year:
- 6,689 claims were received under individual protection policies, with 351 claims under group schemes (also including a small number of critical illness and total permanent disability claims), with a total of £90 million paid. These figures equate to 77 claims worth £980,000 every day during the period during the period in which the data was collected.
- The vast majority of these claims -83% – have been paid so far. Across life insurance claims, these figures show that every life insurance claim has so far been accepted.
- The average payout on term insurance is expected to be £63,000, with an average payout of £137,000 on group policies.
I bet the “small print” gets them out of having to pay
It’s a common enough sentiment which we hear, but the data tells a different story:
98.3% of protection claims PAID
Data released in early May by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Group Risk Development (GRiD) show that the insurance industry paid out more than £5.7 billion in protection claims in 2019 – a year on year increase of over £470 million on 2018 – with the percentage of claims paid rising to 98.3%. This is the highest percentage of claims paid on record.
- £60.5 million was paid out in Individual Income Protection claims for mental health with an average claim of £15,728
- Over £3 billion in life insurance claims paid, up by over £19 million year on year
- Cancer is the biggest single reason for an individual critical illness claims with musculoskeletal the biggest reason for individual income protection, followed by mental health and then cancer
- Pay outs equal £15.8 million paid every single day, which is £1.3 million a day more than in 2018
- Non-disclosure was the biggest reason for declining a claim
| Products | Number of claims paid** | Percentage of new claims paid | Total value paid (000s)** | Average value of claims paid** |
| Critical Illness | 17,995 | 91.6% | £ 1,215,957 | £ 67,573.28 |
| Term Life | 39,638 | 97.4% | £ 3,073,382 | £ 77,535.28 |
| Total Permanent Disability | 474 | 71.7% | £ 32,345 | £ 68,174.01 |
| Whole of Life | 229,197 | 99.99% | £ 794,106 | £ 3,464.73 |
| Income Protection | 16,591* | 87.2% | £ 669,397 | £ 17,728.80 |
| All Protection Products | 303,896 | 98.3% | £ 5,785,187 |
[Data sourced from the Association of British Insurers Summer 2020]
Protect those who & Protect yourself
Coronavirus has long-lasting impacts, and protection insurers will continue to support families hit by this tragedy. No one knows what is round the corner, which is why protecting yourself and your family against the worst is vitally important.
Remember, we’re here to help you.
