British Friendly has paid 89% of new income protection claims in 2023 and just under £5m to its members in income protection, discretionary BF care claims and fracture cover claims.
The mutual has paid 94% of all claims over the last 18 years.
The five most common reasons for claims over the year were musculoskeletal – 54.95%, chest/lung/nose/throat – 7.91%, surgery (not covered in other categories) – 7.21%, mental Illness – 5.41% and cancer – 5.41%
Excluding British Friendly’s Simplified moratorium product, the overall claims rate was 91%.
The main reasons for declined claims were 49.18% misrepresentation, definition of incapacity not being met 26.23% and pre-existing conditions for the simplified product under the moratorium period – 17.21%.
Maxine Jannetta, head of claims at British Friendly, said: “We’re very proud of the amount of support we provide to our members through paying claims, focusing on rehabilitation and recovery as well as offering a range of additional benefits through our BF Care and mutual benefits programmes.
“Last year, we also introduced the option of adding fracture cover to all new policies, so it’s positive to see we’re already able to provide support for some of the members who added this benefit within a year of its launch.”
Ben Mason, protection manager at LightBlue Online, added: “It’s great to see British Friendly continues to pay a high number of income protection claims as well as claims through their additional support packages.
“Last year, four of our clients benefitted from BF Care payments and one client received a Fracture Cover payment.
“These positive outcomes further support our recommendation that clients consider insurers who offer them additional support beyond just income protection.”