Insurers supported people experiencing bereavement, illness, or injury
to the tune of £6.85bn in 2022, according to latest figures from the
Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Upwards trend

This total includes payouts from group and individual protection policies.
Individual policies paid out £4.64bn on life insurance, income protection and
critical illness claims, while group policies, which provide protection products
through an employer, paid out £2.21bn.

Protection when it’s needed

In total, some 287,000 individual claims were paid, with the average payout
from these policies increasing for the third year in a row to £15,448, a 9%
boost.

Over 15,900 people claimed against individual income protection policies in
2022, another 9% increase from the previous year. The total value of these
claims also rose by 22%. For the second consecutive year, the main cause of
individual income protection claims (34%) concerned musculoskeletal issues.

Acceptance rates stay high

The number of new individual claims paid has consistently been around 98%
since 2017. More than half of declined claims resulted from customers who had
not told their insurer key details about themselves or their circumstances.

As with all insurance policies, conditions and exclusions will apply