Zurich paid out 99% of all UK claims in 2017

Zurich paid out 99% of all claims in the UK last year, with payments worth more than £1.7 billion.

The insurance company has published its claims data from 2017, revealing that 120 claims of more than £1 million were made last year.

Zurich publishes it claims data in a bid to “dispel the myth that insurance claims don’t get paid”, according to UK chief claims officer David Nichols.

He said: “While the numbers of claims and amounts paid to our customers fluctuate year on year, we’re proud to report again that we’ve paid out over 99% of claims across all product areas. We hope this helps to dispel the myth that insurance claims don’t get paid.”

“We’re fully committed to sharing this information with our customers and to delivering on our promise to them. This includes making sure that applying for cover is simple and straightforward and making sure that we’re on hand immediately with full support when they need to claim.”

According to Zurich, the vast majority (99%) of motor claims were paid, while typically, the proportion of consumer home claims paid out is slightly lower at 95%.

The main reasons for home claims not being paid is where customers have claimed for wear and tear, which is not covered by their policy, Zurich said, and where customers don’t have the appropriate cover in place.

Zurich paid out 97% of all retail protection claims in 2017, including life, critical illness and income protection insurance.

Where a minority of claims were not paid, reasons include non-disclosure of medical information on applications and where an income protection customer may have returned to work before the policy’s payment period started, the insurance company said.

The highlights of Zurich’s £1.7 billion paid in claims in 2017 include:

General insurance

• Over 194,417 new claims
• 99% of consumer motor claims paid
• 95% consumer home claims paid
• 99% of claims paid for commercial customers
• 120 payments of more than £1 million

Life products

• Nearly 3,000 new protection claims
• 95% of critical illness, 87% income protection and 99% life claims paid
• Average critical illness payment made during 2017 was £75,000 and monthly benefit for income protection was more than £1,400
• More than £647,000 paid in claims for children and £58,600 was paid to customers with partial claims (payments on newer policies for less advanced diagnosis of certain conditions such as cancer)
• Cancer remains the biggest cause of critical illness claims accounting for 59% and mental illness (22%) for income protection

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Mark Dugdale