Key statistics include:
• Over £13.7m paid out for CI and children’s CI claims in 2014;
• The average sum paid to critical illness customers `was £71,100;
• The average age of critical illness claimants was 43 years old; and
• Cancer remains the most common cause of critical illness claims at 53%, followed by children’s CI causes at 15%, along with stroke and heart attack or related conditions at 6% each.
Looking at cancer claims in detail, the top five causes for claim in 2013 were as follows:
1. Breast cancer – 46%
2. Testicular cancer – 9%
3. Colon cancer – 6%
4. Kidney cancer – 5%
5. Skin cancer – 4%
The number of children’s CI cancer claims rose from 12% of claims in 2013, and cancer was again the top cause for children’s CI claims last year, making up over 50% of children’s CI claims.
AIG Life also continued to focus on providing valuable benefits to its customers and their family members at a time when people need extra support. In the last 12 months, we provided 27 customers with payments from the claims support fund, which is available on all AIG Life Critical Illness policies and helps, for example, to cover the costs of travel to and from hospital, up to the value of £300. In one of these cases, a woman with cancer which had spread to her spine and who could no longer move easily used the claims support fund to buy a chair which lifted her from sitting to standing.
Steve Casey, Head of Marketing & Propositions at AIG Life, comments:
“The figures that we publish today are in keeping with the size and maturity of our portfolio. The percentage paid figures are higher than last year which we predicted would be the case. Of greater importance, however, is to look under the headline figure and understand the causes of claim.
“The percentage of claims paid for a children’s critical illness on last year’s figures demonstrates the importance of having a financial parachute in place should a child fall seriously ill. The emotional impact of a child’s illness on a family will likely be tough to endure but with some financial support the pressure can be eased a little.”
Of the CI claims not paid in 2013, 4.6% were declined because of non-disclosure, and 5.6% were declined for conditions not being met.
|
