Aegon paid out £139m across all protection benefits last year, according to individual protection claims data for 2021.
The data reveals the provider helped more than 1,600 families and businesses in 2021, with the total number of claims it received in 2021 increasing by 7% on 2020, driven by a rise in life claims.
Life claims
Aegon revealed it assessed 21% more life claims in 2021 compared with 2020. Cancer remained the most common cause of death for life claims in 2021, accounting for 34% of claims, followed by respiratory-related claims (20%) and cardiovascular-related claims (19%).
While cancer and cardiovascular life claims have remained broadly consistent over the last two years of the pandemic, the provider noted claims due to respiratory-related deaths increased threefold compared to 2019.
They accounted for just 7% of claims in 2019, rising to 14% of claims in 2020 and 20% in 2021, and were tied-in with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The largest increase in overall life claims received in 2021 occurred between January and April with a further spike in life claims in June and July 2021. Pre-pandemic, Aegon added it would expect to see a fall in life claims during the summer months.
However, from August through to the end of 2021 the provider reported a more typical pattern of steadily increasing life claims into winter, showing some early signs of a return to usual seasonal mortality trends.
Critical illness claims
Aegon paid 93% of critical illness (CI) claims in 2021. Overall CI claims were down 12% in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic (2019), and down 3% compared to 2020.
The big three critical illnesses – cancer, heart attack and stroke – accounted for 82% of CI claims. Cancer alone comprised 61% of claims in 2021, followed by heart attacks (13%) and strokes (8%).
The decrease in CI claims was attributed to the increased pressure on the NHS, with any routine NHS services suspended at the start of the pandemic, such as breast, cervical and bowel cancer screenings, which restarted in late 2020 and 2021.
Helen Morris, head of underwriting and claims at Aegon, said: “Despite a challenging period, we’re pleased to have continued to pay a high proportion of claims over the last year.
“The coronavirus pandemic remained a significant influence on the protection market in 2021 and we saw an increase in the number of life protection claims we received as a direct result of this, with respiratory-related life protection claims almost tripling since 2019.
“The general trend across the critical illness market is that overall CI claims remain down on pre-pandemic levels, with the reduction in medical screening and routine services playing a role in this. We may begin to see a return to more typical seasonal trends as these medical services return to a more normal level.”