Aviva reveals number of claims met and calls for greater transparency

Aviva has revealed that it paid 96% of all claims in 2017—and has called for more insurers to follow suit to challenge the belief that insurance does not pay.

Nearly one million Aviva customer claims (961, 973 or 96% of claims made) were accepted last year across motor, home, travel, protection, health and commercial business insurance.

Aviva paid out more than £3.6 billion in cash settlements and services to individual and business customers in the UK.

Despite these trends, a survey of 2,003 adults in the UK, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Aviva, revealed that 55% believe insurers will always try to avoid paying claims if they can, with the average payment considered to be just 52% of all claims.

Andy Briggs, chief executive officer of Aviva UK Insurance, warned other insurers that consumers will not buy insurance if they believe their claims will be declined out-of-hand.

He said: “We are calling on the industry to join us in comprehensively publishing information about how insurers manage customer claims, why some claims are declined and how consumers can do more themselves to understand whether the cover they have is what they need.”

“Across the industry we know that insurance is a reliable and critical way of providing financial protection when things go wrong, whether it involves a family member, a personal possession or a business. In the vast majority of cases, insurance claims are accepted and there are additional and very important support services that help customers get back on their feet.”

“When it comes to making a claim we want Aviva customers to feel really clear about what they are covered for, so we are actively looking at ways that we can help them understand their cover in a simple and unequivocal way. This is something that we believe the whole industry needs to commit to on behalf of customers.”

Aviva also clarified why 4% of its customers’ claims were not paid in 2017.

Common reasons included a lack of additional cover to the standard policy, making a claim for something that falls outside of the policy terms, and a pre-existing health condition or lifestyle choice was not declared.

The insurer paid £2.7 billion out in cash settlements and services to more than 775,000 UK customers claiming on their individual insurance policies in 2016.

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Mark Dugdale