How do you know your insurance will be there when you need it? Good question. Here’s our reassuring answer.
By Nick Green
Have you ever had that nagging doubt your insurance won’t pay out when you need it? Despite insurers paying thousands of claims, of all sorts, every day, it’s these (thankfully rare) horror stories of turned down claims and wasted money that stick in the mind.
We get that. But we’re proud to say we paid 99.3% of our life insurance product claims in 2023, totalling more than £761.7m Footnote [1]. It’s no exaggeration to say those numbers have made a genuinely life-changing difference.
That’s especially so when talking about our income protection insurance and critical illness cover. This is when having trained, expert claims people on your side, able to do more than just the paperwork, can be the difference between back to normal and back to bed.
Reality cheque
The sobering thing about an income protection insurance claim is that the person we’re talking to has suffered serious illness or injury. Something bad enough to stop them working, causing financial as well as physical pain.
This helps focus our minds on what’s important here – getting you back on your feet as quickly and painlessly as possible.
That commitment to care means we can be heavily involved in not just the claim itself but your rehabilitation after. We don’t just send you a cheque and leave you to it.
First aid
No one likes to dwell on how serious illness or injury could put their life on hold. But if it does happen, not knowing what to expect or how to deal with it can be a bigger worry than the problem itself. Knowing there’s a safe pair of hands to help is good – but knowing how they’ll help is better.
Making an income protection insurance claim is a good example. It’s great to know that your policy can help replace some of your wages, and help you cover essentials such as your mortgage, energy bills and food.
But paying the bills is only half the story. There’s only so much daytime telly you can put up with and getting back to work is your first priority. Our income protection claims teams are trained to look at each claim and work out, case-by-case, what we can do to help get you back to normal.
Maybe you’re desperate to get back to work quickly but you don’t know how and you need help. Or maybe you’re too unwell to continue your old job and you need to retrain for something new. Either way, your insurance gives you options and second chances.
Team effort
Macmillan’s analysis shows that 83% Footnote [2] of people with cancer in the UK suffer some kind of financial fallout from their diagnosis. This can mean finding an average of £891 a month on top of their usual household spending. It’s no surprise that cancer is the most common critical illness claim we see – over half (58.4%) of 2023's critical illness claims, in fact Footnote [1].
This is where our close relationship with Macmillan Cancer Support comes in.
By speaking directly to Macmillan Cancer Nurse Specialists, we’ve reduced the time it takes to pay a claim for some of our critical illness customers. By verifying the cancer diagnosis directly with a nurse, we can quickly tick the boxes needed to push a claim through and make sure you get vital financial help you need.
Secret support
But the support isn’t just financial. Macmillan has helped us train our claims specialists to better understand and help our customers living with cancer.
If you’re getting in touch to make a claim, or you’re just worried about money, work or treatment, whoever you talk to in our claims team has the information and tools you need. We’ll know the most relevant Macmillan support service to point you to, so you’re never left to cope on your own or left wondering what’s next.
And that knowledge is what makes the difference. Some 82% of our income protection customers successfully return to work after getting our cancer support.
Whatever your aims are, and whatever you feel you can achieve, is what we’ll work towards.
Judie’s story is just one example of that in action.
Long game
Life-changing moments don’t lend themselves well to short-cuts.
When the hard times hit, you need to know someone’s looking out for you from start to finish. Someone with broad shoulders, a sympathetic ear and deep pockets. Someone with the knowledge and expertise to pull the right people together at the right time. Someone very much like Aviva, in fact.
See how our life insurance, income protection insurance and critical illness cover can help protect you today.