The Exeter paid out 4% more in income protection (IP) claims in 2021 despite a 31% drop in volumes driven by a decline in Covid claims.
The protection and health insurer’s IP claims data for 2021 showed it paid £10.5m, an increase of 4% on the £10.1m in 2020.
It made 1,318 decisions on new income protection claims during 2021, lower than the 1,917 made in 2020, and paid 93% of all new claims. Covid-related claims more than halved in 2021 and accounted for 21% of all claims.
The figures align with data from the Association of Financial Mutuals released last week, which showed mutuals in 2021 witnessed a 17% fall in the number of new claims while claims costs continued rising.
Echoing this, earlier this month LV= revealed it paid a record £119m in protection claims in 2021 to more than 9,000 claimants and their families. This compared to £117.8m to 9,500 claimants in 2020.
The Exeter’s most common reason for claim was musculoskeletal conditions (38%), with hip or knee conditions accounting for 9% of claims and mental health for 7%.
The average age of claimants on The Exeter’s newer policies was just 37 years old.
Chris Pollard, COO at The Exeter, said: “Providing real and tangible claims support to our members throughout the continued challenges presented by 2021 has been a driving force for The Exeter.
“Musculoskeletal claims remain the most common reason for workplace absence, often arising from sporting injuries and accidents often needing several weeks to make a full recovery and return to work. There has been a welcome reduction in claims due to Covid-19 as we emerge from the pandemic.
“Most of our members continue to elect to use our digital claim service, with almost 40% responding within 48 hours. We continue to signpost our members to the valuable support services provided by our HealthWise app, which experienced a 48% increase in usage from income protection members last year.”