AIG Life paid out a record £394m in protection insurance claims and 95% of all individual protection claims in 2023.
The UK life insurance firm, now part of Aviva Group, provided support to more than 5,200 individuals, families and businesses in 2023.
The £206m it paid in personal protection claims is up from £204m in 2022, and an 11% increase in the number of claims paid on the previous year.
It means AIG Life helped an extra 500 people and their loved ones after an individual had died, experienced a life-changing illness or when they were too ill to work.
AIG Life paid 99% of individual life insurance claims, 95% of terminal illness claims, 95% of critical illness claims along with 88% of income protection claims.
The insurer also paid almost £173,000 to more than 500 families through its claims support fund.
This discretionary fund pays up to £500 (increased from £300 in 2023) to cover the extra unexpected costs that families face when they suffer a bereavement or illness, like hospital parking and travel costs, tools to help their recovery such as a treadmill or recliner chair, or even convert a downstairs bathroom into a wet room.
Across group protection, £188m was paid in claims to provide more than 1,650 families with financial support after a loved one died, as well as a continued income and rehabilitation services when an employee was too ill to work.
Life insurance and terminal illness benefit claims
More than £164m was paid out in over 4,400 individual life insurance and terminal illness benefit claims last year.
Analysis of AIG Life’s claimants found almost a third of people (32%) who died had cancer, while 17% had heart disease and 13% had a respiratory condition.
Almost all (96%) terminal illness claims were for individuals with cancer, and the youngest person among those was 22 years old.
Critical illness
AIG Life paid £38m in critical illness claims to 617 individuals and families who had experienced a serious or life-changing illness.
A further 73 payments were also made to families whose child who had suffered a children’s critical illness, or to families whose young child had died.
Income protection
AIG Life also helped 110 customers who were too ill to work in 2023 by paying over £2m in individual income protection claims. Of these, 20% also received additional rehabilitation and recuperation support.
A third of people (33%) who received a monthly income protection pay out had musculoskeletal challenges, while almost a fifth (19%) were suffering with their mental wellbeing. Cancer ranked third, amounting to 9% of claims.
Neil Davies, chief operating officer at AIG Life, (pictured) said: “Every single claim paid is a family or business we’ve helped during one of life’s toughest times.
“The feedback we receive from customers and their beneficiaries when they go through a bereavement or illness tells us that the claims we pay make a real difference.
“This industry really does care about being there for people when they need us most.
“It’s important we deliver at times like these and we do all we can to help consumers see the humanity of what we do, and the huge value protection offers.”