"As well as providing a financial lifeline, emotional support is often needed to support customers dealing with a shock diagnosis, recovering from illness, or coming to terms with bereavement."
- Craig Paterson, Chief Underwriter at Royal London
Royal London paid over 77,000 claims in Life Insurance, Whole of Life, Critical Illness (CI), and Income Protection (IP), equating to £731mn. The highest individual payout was for £4mn.
More than £228mn was paid in Life Insurance & Terminal Illness claims, averaging £95,371 per claim. Meanwhile, nearly a third of a billion (£315mn) was paid in Whole of Life claims with 99.9% of claims receiving a payout. Royal London paid over 70k claims, averaging £4,461 per claim.
The mutual paid 90.5% of CI claims, averaging more than £68k per claim. A recent cancer diagnosis was the most common trigger (66%), followed by heart attack (9%), and stroke (9%).
In 2023, Royal London paid around £6.5mn in IP claims. Musculoskeletal was the most common trigger (54%), followed by cancer (10%), and mental health conditions (4%).
In addition to these claim payouts, Royal London supported 4,300 customers with Helping Hand in 2023. These services allow customers to access virtual GP consultations, RedArc nurse support, musculoskeletal, physiotherapy, and mental health support.
Of those that received aid from RedArc, 18% of cases were to support those with a cancer diagnosis, followed by mental health (17%), musculoskeletal issues (16%), and bereavement support (14%).
“Last year’s figures, a record total of £731mn supporting over 77k families and businesses, is an endorsement of why we’re in the protection business – to pay claims and to be there for customers during life shocks,” said Craig Paterson, Chief Underwriter at Royal London.
He highlighted that these payouts “not only provide reassurance to customers that valuable financial support is there when it’s needed most, it also demonstrates the importance of having a safety net in place as part of an individual’s overall financial planning.”
