Guardian insurance paid more than £15m in protection claims in 2023 including 100% of life and terminal illness (TI) and 92% of critical illness (CI) claims.
The figures were released as part of its first full claims report following five years being active in the market and includes a two claims paid before the policy was in-force.
In total it paid £15,333,395 supporting 150 families and paid a further 117 premium waiver claims.
There were 31 life insurance claims paid worth £5.02m with the highest amount being £460,769 and the lowest of £12,713.
The youngest claimant was aged 27 and the oldest 64, with 71% of claimants being male while cancer accounted for 13 claims (42%) followed by accident, suicide and other natural causes all accounting for 6 claims (19%) each.
All 15 terminal illness claims were paid totalling £2.53m with the highest being £303,460 and lowest of £40,627, while the youngest claimant was 37 and oldest 64.
Half (53%) of claimants were male and cancer accounted for 14 claims with (93%) with motor neurone disease being the remaining case.
“Five of the 14 cancer claims paid wouldn’t have met the standard industry terminal illness definition at the time we paid them,” Guardian said.
Critical illness claims
For CI, 81 (92%) claims were paid totalling £7.3m with seven declined. Of that 81, 76 (94%) received the full payment while 5 (6%) were for additional payouts.
The highest amount paid was £500,000 while the lowest was £4,156, with the youngest adult claimant being 26 and the oldest 62, while claims were split equally between men and women.
Of the seven claims declined, six were for misrepresentation and one was for not meeting the definition as the customer had not suffered a heart attack for which they claimed.
Guardian published reasons for declining each of those misrepresentation claims which included non-disclosure of previous cardiac problems, pre-application surgery and ongoing medical investigations.
“We paid one claim for cancer before the policy had gone in force under our immediate cover,” Guardian said.
Cancer was the largest reason for claiming with 58 cases (72%) followed by heart attack and stroke with six cases (7%) each.
There were 23 (92%) successful children’s CI claims totalling £480,865 paid – 15 for a critical illness and eight for funeral cover. Again, one claim was paid for the cover had gone in-force.
The highest amount paid was £100,000 and the lowest £6,250. The youngest was stillborn for funeral cover and seven days old for CI, while the oldest was 18 years.
Two cases were declined for pre-existing conditions not covered by the policy.
In August 2023 Guardian announced it had paid its first critical illness (CI) claim under its cover upgrade promise, while earlier this month it extended additional pay outs to 50% of the full amount.
Income protection claims are not included as the product was launched in April 2023.
Special moment
Guardian CEO Katya MacLean (pictured) said publishing the insurer’s first claims report was a very special moment.
“It’s now been over five full years since we entered the protection market, and since day one, our aim has been to design policies that provide certainty and support at claim,” she said.
“The fact that we’ve paid 100% of our life and terminal illness claims and 92% of our critical illness claims, shows that Guardian is doing what it set out to do – being there, paying claims, when our customers need us most.
“For us, claims are everything and we hope this report plays a role in providing confidence in our products and increasing trust in our industry.”
Head of claims Phil Deacon added: “Publishing our first claims report is an important milestone but the thing I’m most proud of is how we’ve helped so many people.
“Our claims team works tirelessly to pay claims and support our customers when they need us most.”