Scottish Provident paid out nearly £94 million for critical illness claims in 2009
Over 91 per cent of claims were successful
Only 1.7 per cent of claims were declined due to non-disclosure
Scottish Provident’s “Critical Illness Claims Report” released today reveals it paid out nearly £94 million to critical illness policy holders during 2009. The report shows that 91.3 per cent of all claims were paid, and just 1.7 per cent of claims were
declined due to non-disclosure, one of the lowest figures in the market.
The report reveals that the average payout was nearly £76,000, with the largest payout just under £850,000. The average age of claimants was 46 years old, with the oldest claimant being 73 years old.
Over the course of the year over £60 million was paid out for cancer claims and over £10 million in claims for heart attacks alone. Cancer accounted for 62 per cent of total claims paid, with heart attacks making up 12 per cent of the claims. Women accounted
for 61 per cent of cancer claims, compared to only 39 per cent of men. Men were more likely to make a critical illness claim due to a heart attack, with 83 per cent of them making a claim, compared to a lower figure of 17 per cent of women.
Susan Barclay, Head of Marketing, Scottish Provident said: “Having such a low non-disclosure rate highlights the success of our commitment to helping intermediaries ensure that their clients disclose everything upfront. By improving
our literature, we’ve been able to encourage all information to be disclosed at application stage, ensuring policies pay out when they’re needed most. This not only generates more confidence in protection products, but also gives consumers peace of mind
that should the worst happen, they are protected financially.”
The Scottish Provident Income Protection Plan not only gives its customers a regular income if they are unable to work due to sickness, accident or disability, but also includes premium payment benefit, meaning that Scottish Provident will pay the premiums
throughout the period of a successful claim. Furthermore, any customer covered for death or earlier critical illness benefit or critical illness benefit of at least £25,000 and who has income protection under the same plan, has two additional benefits:
- An immediate cash benefit, equal to the weekly equivalent value of the customer’s income protection benefit multiplied by the deferred period under their plan
- Children’s income benefit, which is 25 per cent of the income protection benefit, up to a maximum of £5,000 each year for up to five years
Susan Barclay added: “Not only does today’s announcement mean that our customers are getting among the most attractive deals on the market in terms of safeguarding their futures, but the additional benefits available at no extra cost
underline the fact that we are listening to our customers and the general market, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet.”
- Ends -
For more information please contact:
Susan Barclay 0141 275 9476
Scottish Provident susan.barclay@scotprov.co.uk
Anna Moulds 0207 294 3681
Lansons Communications anaam@lansons.com
Adam Harwood 0207 566 9725
Lansons Communications adamh@lansons.com
Editors Notes:
Royal London Group is a specialist financial service provider. Its businesses focus on those sectors of the market which value quality propositions, operating through a number of brands:
- Scottish Life – UK pensions market
- Bright Grey – UK protection market
- Scottish Provident – UK protection market
- Royal London 360° – offshore investment markets
- RLAM – fund management
- RLAS – life and pensions administration
- Fundsdirect / Ascentric – funds supermarket; Wrap platform
Royal London also distributes life and pensions products through Santander’s UK branch networks.
Royal London is the largest mutual life and pensions company in the UK with Group funds under management of £35.9 billion. Group businesses serve around 3.4 million customers and employ 2,800 people. Figures quoted are as at 31 December 2009.
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