Aviva has just released its Income Protection claims statistics for 2021, and if nothing else, they offer a clear-cut reminder of the importance of this type of cover. First the headline numbers: Aviva is paying a regular income to 92% of its claimants totally €46,000,000. It’s quite staggering that the average age at time of claim is 48 years, while the youngest male claimant was 22 and youngest female claimant was 23. The medical reasons for the claims are as follows: 25% Psychological; 25% Orthopaedic; 20% Cancer; 16% other medical conditions; 7% Neurological; 6% Cardiac and 1% Respiratory. Only 8% of claims were denied and of these 4.5% were not medially supported, 1% were down to policy exclusions and 2.5% were rejected due to non-disclosure.
Aviva also offers three random cases in payment:
- A 56-year-old male solicitor who suffered a stroke and submitted a claim in 2021. To date he has received €40,000 and his Income Protection policy’s term runs for another eight years.
- A 39-year-old nurse who was diagnosed with breast cancer and submitted a claim in 2017. To date she has received €120,000 and her Income Protection policy does not expire for another sixteen years.
- A forty-six-year-old plumber who required back and leg surgery and who submitted an Income Protection claim in 2015. To date he has received €80,000 and his Income Protection policy does not expire for another seven years.
Zurich Assurance Co., on the other hand, paid out on 335 Income Protection claims in 2021 and is paying €724,000 every month. Zurich’s average Income Protection payment is €2800.00 per month. Zurich also offers a case study of a dentist who suffered a slipped disc. He claimed on his Income protection policy and was paid €26,000 over an eighteen-month period before returning to work. Another Income Protection claim involved a typesetter who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Her payment under her policy is ongoing after 23 months, and she has already been paid €29,000.
In terms of causes of Income Protection claims, Zurich offers a more detailed breakdown than Aviva: 29% Cancer; Psychiatric 16%; Musculo-skeletal 11%; Stroke 6%; Neurological 4%; MS 4%; Heart 3%; Accident 3%; Sight impairment 1%; Kidney failure 1%; Crohm’s disease 1%; Respiratory 1% and Other Illnesses 17%.
Meanwhile, Royal London paid out on 90% of its claims in 2021, totally €4.1m and the average age of the claimants was 38. 36% of its claims were for Musculo-skeletal issues, 16% Cancer, 10% Mental Illnesses, while Heart Attack or Stroke accounted for 11% of claims.
Regarding Covid 19, Zurich is paying out on 14 Income Protection claims, largely for Long Covid and Covid related conditions such as asthma. It is noteworthy that Covid claimants are in their 20s, 30s and 40s. As an aside, in 2021, Ireland’s largest life insurer, Irish Life, paid out on 321 Covid 19 related Death claims. The median age was 70 and most had a pre-existing condition such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illness or high blood pressure. Meanwhile throughout 2021, Royal London paid out €68,938 on 22 Income Protection claims for Covid 19.
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