By Ross Jackson, senior protection marketing manager
We’re sure you’ll have heard your customers say ‘But insurance companies don’t pay claims’ when giving a reason for not wanting to take out protection.
In fact, our State of the Protection Nation research showed that 27 per cent of consumers asked didn’t think protection providers paid out in the event of a claim1. So we know that claims figures can be a great way to dispel some of the myths around providers paying out at claim time.
Yes, there are some people who sadly don’t have a successful claim. It’s unfortunate that these are the cases that make the news and get talked about the most. But thankfully these cases are few and far between, as evidenced by the Association of British Insurers claims figures for 2016, which show that insurers pay out in 97.3 per cent of all claims. The good news stories about families for whom the pain of financial hardship is lessened because their plan paid out just don’t make a headline-grabbing story.
Our claims figures
We’re pleased to report another set of strong figures this year. In fact, we’ve matched the ABI average and paid out 97.3 per cent of claims during 20162. This equates to over £330m paid to 10,192 plan owners and their loved ones2. On top of this, we gave over £900,000 to customers whose plans hadn’t yet started with us but were protected with our Free Cover3.
But more than the figures, we’re focused on your clients as individuals. We know that making a claim is a traumatic experience and how well a claim is handled is a ‘key moment of truth’ for both you as an adviser and for a customer making a claim. This is why we remain reassuringly focused on a successful claims experience for both of you, allowing you both to concentrate on your own priorities.
From a single point of contact, so they only have to give information once, to a dedicated nurse to provide additional support beyond a payout. From fast-track claims to save them worrying about paperwork, to Free Cover to make sure they’re protected even before they pay a penny in premiums. We’re always looking for new ways to do things differently.
Support for you, and your clients
As in previous years, we’ve created a range of material that demonstrates our claims statistics for 2016. Our brochure contains all the numbers you might expect and includes more detailed information on the Free Cover claims we paid, as well as case studies demonstrating the benefit of our Helping Hand service at claim time.
As an industry, we need to make more of our claims statistics and the case studies available. By emphasising that real people are regularly helped by their financial payout, as well as by the extra help provided through support services from protection providers, we can hopefully improve the consumer trust factor in our industry.
Read more about our claims statistics.
Sources:
1 – State of the Protection Nation, Royal London, March 2017. 2,000 nationally representative UK adults aged over 18 asked.
2 – Royal London UK protection business claims paid (1 January to 31 December 2016).
3 – Royal London UK intermediary protection business claims paid (1 January to 31 December 2016).
