Making a claim
Our dedicated UK claims handlers are trained to deal with calls in a sensitive manner. They’ll deal with the claim from start to finish, answering any questions and making sure the claim is dealt with as quickly as possible.
For employees with a medical condition, our team of claims assessors and clinical experts have an in-depth understanding of conditions and needs and will help ensure the employee receives the right support throughout the process.
We deal with each claim on an individual basis, keeping the right people updated throughout the process.
Once we’ve agreed to pay the claim and have all the information we need, we’ll make the payment as quickly as possible.
Making a Group Life claim
Making a Group Critical Illness claim
Making a Group Income Protection claim
Our latest claims and wellbeing insights
Paying claims and providing expert help to employees through some of life’s most difficult times is at the heart of our Group Protection business.
Group Protection Claims & Wellbeing Insight Report
We paid out £559,939,041 in Claims benefit in 2024. Helping to ease the worries of 9,316* employees and their loved ones.
Discover how we went beyond insurance with rehabilitation and wellbeing support.^
Claims and Support Showcase
We share valuable insights from 2024 and dive deeper into some of the support available.
*Based on Aviva claims data, January – December 2024 and includes data from Aviva Protection UK Limited (formerly AIG Life) from 9 April 2024 to December 2024.
^please note these are non contractual benefits that can be changed or removed at any time.
Claims - Frequently Asked Questions
Group Life
Group Critical Illness
Group Income Protection
Customer stories
Group Income Protection
Group Income Protection customer stories
Take a look at some of our customer stories and see what people have to say about the expertise and support they received.
Transcript for video Alison's story
I’m Lyndsey, I’m a Claims Case Manager for Group Income Protection here at Aviva.
We get notifications every day from employers looking to make a claim, or receive rehabilitation support for their employees.
Alison’s employer contacted me to let me know that she was struggling at work, due to ongoing symptoms regarding her Stiff Person’s Syndrome diagnosis.
This meant that she was struggling with pain in her upper torso, arms, legs, but also being off work had impacted her mental health, so she was struggling with anxiety and depression.
Alison described her feelings as ‘living in a pit of darkness’. She was really struggling and feeling isolated and alone.
I could see this was a sensitive situation and that Alison needed support straight away.
Alison was really worried understandably that she may lose her job and have to rely on friends or family for support financially. This is where the Group Income Protection policy comes into place.
I obtained Alison’s medical information and referred over to our Consultant Medical Adviser to understand treatment pathways.
She was getting frustrated within the workplace, as she was needing more and more time off, and just wanted to excel within her career.
Her employer were worried that this role was no longer suitable for her, but she really enjoyed her job, and was really eager to be able to stay within the workplace and be able to return to her role at some point.
This is a really tricky situation for both her employer and for Alison to be in.
The stress of the situation, being absent from work, and feeling the frustration of not being able to carry out her role further exacerbated Alison’s symptoms of anxiety and depression.
I became her dedicated case manager. I was Aviva for Alison, from the minute we started talking together, right through the claims process.
We spoke about her claim and any further support we may be able to offer.
As Alison had had previous absences due to her ongoing symptoms associated with Stiff Person’s Syndrome, I was able to piece those absences together to form a deferred period. So I was able to pay her claim sooner rather than later.
The policy meant that she receives 67% of her salary every month, the benefit basis that her employer put into place.
Alison will continue to receive this until she returns to work, or reaches retirement age if she remains medically supported. These payments give her a financial safety net, doing exactly what the policy is designed for. And she was struggling financially before the claim, worrying about how she would pay for her home, or if she would need to ask her family to help her out.
The payments have alleviated her stress, and its allowed her to concentrate on her health and getting better.
Although Alison didn’t want to be filmed herself, she’s happy for me to share her story on her behalf, and she’s allowed us to use a voice actor to share her thoughts.
I am really glad I was given my case manager as she has made such an impact on me personally. She made me feel so comfortable in our first call, I was able to be open and honest with her about my past mental health history.
She was so kind and never lost that human touch - something that you never expect with insurance.
Aviva has given me control over my financial life again and I could not be more grateful.
For more information on Aviva Group Income Protection, contact your employer, financial adviser or usual Aviva contact. Or visit us online at aviva.co.uk or search Aviva advisers.
Transcript for video Simon's story
Hi, my name's Kate Meads, and I'm director of Kate Meads Associates, otherwise known as KMA.
We provide vocational rehabilitation services to customers of Aviva under the Group Income Protection Scheme.
Aviva will refer employees over to us who are either on long-term sick or at risk of going off sick, and the ultimate goal of what we do is to facilitate somebody returning to work in a sustainable manner.
It doesn't matter if you've got mental illness, a physical illness, an injury. It is purely looking at, okay, what's this person require to return to work?
We might be recommending a phased return to work, but prior that it might be we need to do a work preparation program to get the person to the point of being able to return to work.
It could be developing fatigue management skills, building cognitive resilience as well as physical resilience.
And at every step we link in with the employer, so that's HR, maybe the line report or whatever team is around that employee.
A good example of someone we've worked with is, a man called Simon.
He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Not only did he have multiple sclerosis, he had social issues in terms of his wife was very poorly and complexities of home life as well.
What we did with him was to empower him, to identify what his needs were, what needed to be different at work.
During the process of working with us, he developed another lesion, which impacted on his function. And for him, there was that fear that he was not going to be able to get back to work. He felt that he was doing things wrong.
And what we could do is actually then identify pacing strategies to do, ways in which he could build his physical stamina up. Encourage him to think about different ways of working.
We would set him tasks each week after each session. He would let us know how he was going. And then it was also linking in with, key stakeholders in the workplace to support him.
He resumed his full time working and his roles and responsibilities.
He is willing to share his feedback.
I was never in a position where I did not want to be at work. I wanted to be of value, but I lost my way.
I knew I needed to do things differently, but I didn’t know how, I just needed someone to guide me through it.
Kate’s support has been invaluable in helping me get into the right headspace. I found the whole process very easy, and it all happened quite naturally.
Aviva recognised I wanted to work and were able to support with that.
Vocational rehabilitation services are non-contractual benefits Aviva can change or withdraw at any time.
For more information on Aviva Group Income Protection and these services, contact your employer, financial adviser or your usual Aviva contact or visit us online, at aviva.co.uk or search Aviva advisers.
Transcript for video Brian's story
My name is Brian Stacey, I work in engineering, I’m an NDT inspector and, I’ve done that for 35 years.
Before, I was very active. Used to go to the gym, go out most weekends and things like that.
I was at my friends shop and he noticed that my face had dropped and my speech was slurred and other things like that.
Sat at his shop and a ambulance pulls up outside. I say who’s that for?
He says you.
Did all the heart monitors and things like that and said we reckon you’ve had a stroke.
And then we went down to the hospital. They said you’ve had a bleed on the brain, on your left hand side. Which is where the weak side was. My speech was fine, to a degree. But, I was a bit slurred and things like that.
I then had a year off with the stroke and just got on with it really. I just wasn’t gonna give in and just carried on going.
My name is Anna O’Shaughnessy I work for a company called Krysalis consultancy limited.
Krysalis is a leading provider of neurological rehabilitation services in the UK, and offer a variety of different service streams to individuals with complex neurological conditions.
if an individual has a group income protection policy with Aviva, then a referral will come through to Krysalis following perhaps a diagnosis of a neurological condition or a neurological injury that an individual has sustained.
we deliver occupational therapy services and conduct comprehensive assessments with people to be able to understand and learn about the individual themselves, to establish how Krysalis may be able to support that individual through their rehabilitation journey.
The initial stage is getting in contact with Brian and having an initial chat and conversation and to introduce myself, my role, I very quickly learnt how open and honest Brian is, and started to understand him as a person right from that very first conversation.
We then arrange a more formal remote assessment where we conduct a variety of conversations, discussion and assessment to be able to underpin the challenges that Brian was facing at the time.
Additional things I worked with Brian on was relating to was things like fatigue management. The amount of energy that the brain needs to recover and heal and rewire that neuroplasticity is immense.
So its really important to help Brian to understand his symptoms, to understand why he was feeling the way he was feeling and to then look at his everyday life in order to help him. Its important for the organisation to understand element of Brians condition and how best they can support him at work.
Krysalis has been really good with me and the young lady they sent, Anna to help me out with all the different ideas and things like that to progress me on.
Its made me more confident outside of work as well. My driving has got a lot better.
I then went back to work. I cant do the job I was originally doing. I said I need something a bit simpler cause of the stroke and the memory side of it so I went on to a different job.
I feel a lot more confident in myself. That made me feel a lot better that somebody was actually being there for me and helping me out and giving me advice which is what they did.
Its really really important from an occupational therapy point of view to ensure that we have a really open, transparent with the individual, with the workplace and with the insurance company to make sure we have a consistent approach and that everybody understands first and foremost Brians needs, challenges and of course his strengths in order to support him in the best possible way.
Rehabilitation support is available to employees insured under Aviva Group Income Protection. It's a non-contractual benefit, which Aviva can change or withdraw at any time.
For more information on Aviva Group Income Protection, contact your employer, financial adviser or use your usual Aviva contact.
Or visit us online, at aviva.co.uk or search Aviva advisers.
Mitcham's neurodiversity story
A decline in Mitcham’s mental health meant he was unable to work. He was living with anxiety and ADHD and turned to Aviva for support. Read Micham’s story.
Andrew’s chronic fatigue story
Andrew started experiencing extreme fatigue, along with other symptoms, which were impacting his life and work. After receiving a diagnosis, Andrew was able to get support through his Aviva Policy.
Andrew’s Myeloma story
Andrew was receiving chemotherapy for myeloma and was told he’d need a stem cell transplant. That’s when his employer contacted Aviva.
Group Critical Illness
Group Critical Illness customer stories
Take a look at some of our customer stories and see what people have to say about the expertise and support they received.
Transcript for video Alex's story
I’m Alex, I’m 57 years old, and in March 2024 my life changed. I was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer.
I was working, and still continue to work, for a small family run firm, with about 15 employees, as a financial adviser.
I’ve always been active. I remain an active member of the local rugby club and have a great social life, and my health seemed fine.
At the time, I had no symptoms for cancer, but my partner had been badgering me to ensure that I go and get the PSA test, to check for prostate levels in my blood.
The nurse wasn’t keen at first as it’s not a normal, automatic test.
What they found with the test results, the GP said ‘I’m not too concerned, but I think it’d be worth sending you for an MRI scan’.
At the time, I didn’t expect to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, I felt fine. But I was remarkably sanguine when they told me the news. I guess I’d prepared myself for the worst and hoped for the best.
My mind immediately turned to ‘what’s the best route for me?’
I decided that the radiotherapy route was the best route.
I also began monthly hormone therapy injections. It basically puts your hormones into the menopause state, which is an interesting experience, and thankfully just temporarily.
I had other treatments too.
I needed to pay for travel for lots of my appointments and to take time of time off work, which my employer was fantastic about.
But at the time, it was the treatment that was important, not the finances. I wasn’t thinking about how is this going to impact on my financial side.
I didn’t tell many people originally, because, I think with cancer, it’s one of those ones where, you know, you’re going on this journey on your own, to a certain extent, and, I just told a few close confidants.
It was one of my colleagues who reminded me about the critical illness cover that I have with Aviva. And that nudge was a little ironic, given it’s a policy I recommend to all my clients, but I wasn’t necessarily thinking about it for myself at that immediate moment in time.
And I must admit, I was blown away by how simple it was to claim. I completed a short form, and my case manager did the rest.
I then got notified that my claim had been accepted and payment was made.
It allowed me to have support for the costs of going to these treatments, for medical costs, and also give me the option, should I wish, to do things like pay off a mortgage, to take the pressure off you financially.
It alleviated some of the stress associated with such serious illnesses as cancer.
So I’m glad the policy was there for when I needed it. You hope never to have to claim on a critical illness, I’d rather not have claimed on the critical illness policy, but when I need to, it was there for me.
Having now become a statistic, I now know at first-hand how important it is to have that critical illness in place.
For more information on Aviva Group Critical Illness cover, contact your employer, financial adviser or your usual Aviva contact. Or visit us online, at aviva.co.uk or search Aviva advisers.
Transcript for video Kirsty's story
My whole understanding of what insurance policies and insurance companies can do has changed.
Hi, my name is Kirsty. I'm in my early fifties and I was quite happily going through life, working,
living at home with my dog, out and about.
Around about my 50th birthday in the march, I got a call for a mammogram and they discovered
a primary but advanced tumour, and I remember sitting with the breast care nurse who was
lovely, and I remember her asking me to put my arms above my head as she drew onto the affected breast and told me that I had a large lump in there.
And I just remember looking out of the window trying to catch my breath, looking at the people walking by and thinking, life is never going to be the same.
Everything changed. It's been really hard. It's been two years out of my life now.
So the last thing you want at that point in your life is to have to worry about whether or not you're going to be able to feed yourself, heat the house, run the car… and that's where the insurance policies came in.
So one of the policies was the income protection. That was just a real lifeline in many ways.
There's a lot of expense that I wasn't expecting to have, like little silly things that all stack up like car parking at the hospital, maybe extra dog walking and maybe a cleaner. So that's been a big eye opener for me.
I also had critical illness cover. It's been a huge source of support in the sense that it's given me peace of mind. I hadn't even realised that there was more to the policy than just ‘just’ paying me out, paying money.
I was really surprised to get the rehab support, I had no idea that that would be included when I thought of insurance policies, I just thought of finance.
My whole understanding of what insurance policies and insurance companies can do has changed.
Group Income Protection offers early intervention and rehabilitation support services, these are non-contractual benefits that Aviva can change or remove at any time.
Group Income Protection pays out if during the policy term, you’re unable to work due to illness or injury and suffer a loss of earnings as a result.
Group Critical Illness pays out if, during the policy term, you’re diagnosed with one of our list of critical illnesses that meets our definition, and you survive for at least 14 days.
For both products, there is no cash in value at any time Your financial adviser or employer can explain how the products work and when they would pay out.
Transcript for video Emma's story
I went for the results, and the consultant’s first words when I sat down in the office were, “I’m really sorry. It’s not good news.”
I'm Emma, I'm a children's nurse. I’m currently working in education. I have grown-up children 23 and 25, and I'm currently undergoing treatments for lobular breast cancer.
I had some lumps in my breast. I had an operation to remove what they thought was three fibroadenomas. They'd removed the fibroadenomas, but they'd found invasive lobular carcinoma.
That was a big shock because I really wasn't expecting that. My second operation was planned. It was quite an extensive operation, but unfortunately, when I got the results of that one, they'd found five different tumours, quite a lot more cancer than they had expected. They'd also found that it was in my sentinel lymph nodes. I had to have a mastectomy and they checked some more lymph nodes, again, not expecting them to be positive, but there were a couple that were positive.
I started chemo, and then I'll still need some radiotherapy and I’ll need some hormone therapy, probably more long-term. This was all quite a lot because originally, I was told I'd need about eight weeks off work. I looked at my critical illness insurance. Your head is in a spin with everything going on, but that was the one thing that looked positive.
There's not very many positives about being diagnosed with breast cancer, and there's so many worries that you have, but actually, this was something that I could do actively. The claim process was really easy. When the claim was paid, it was a lot of relief. I was very lucky, and I get good sick benefit, I get six months full pay, six months half pay, but I realized that I would probably be going to half pay. And actually, having my mortgage paid was a complete relief.
Chronic illnesses take a long time. You need the cover, to cover you while you're ill. It's an expense you can't afford not to take. But I'm just so grateful that we bought that policy.
Critical illness insurance pays out a lump sum and is designed to help support you and your family financially.
It’s there to help you focus on your recovery without worrying about how the bills will be paid.
You can choose how long you want the policy to last and the amount of money you’re covered for.
Your financial adviser can explain how Aviva’s critical illness works and when it would pay out.
Wellbeing services
Wellbeing services customer stories
Aviva Group Protection policies give employees access to the Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace app, provided by Square Health. It helps users detect, manage and prevent physical and mental health problems.
Transcript for video Marlena's DigiCare+ story
So my name’s Marlena, and I’m 25 years old, I am a Protection Adviser and I have been advising now for just over 5 year
I speak to my clients every single day, why they need protection and why it’s so important and one day I just thought Marlena you need to take your own advice.
Because when you are fit and healthy you just never know if it’s going to stay that way or if something’s going to happen in the future.
Usually I’m quite bubbly, I’m really outgoing, I love socialising, going out with my friends. But I just started to feel more run down.
Um, so I did think actually this is not like me. So I turned to my Doctors and I told them the symptoms that I was feeling. So, one of the symptoms was, you know, migraines, nosebleeds, just feeling like you’ve got no energy whatsoever even though I’ve just woken up.
But they did kind of say, have you considered long Covid but I just felt within myself no, this is just not right how I’m feeling so I did turn to my Aviva policy for support.
So within my policy, I’ve got an amazing benefit called DigiCare+ which includes a lot of benefits such as annual health check, a private doctors appointment and also dietician sessions.
But I just thought to myself, actually the main one that I need is the annual health check, first, which is a really quick finger prick test, and then after that I’ve had a full report come back to me within days which showed me exactly what potentially could be wrong.
And I went on my app and really quickly I managed to get an appointment, which was a video appointment with a Doctor and they were able to explain to me what the results meant.
Probably one of the biggest concerns was my white blood cells, which we didn’t understand why they were so low. I felt it was really important to go and get that checked out.
So I’ve called my Doctors just to say that I did go privately to have a look at what was going on.
After I’ve explained my results roughly they actually said OK maybe you do need to be seen by a Doctor, which really did open a lot of doors because the next day I had a blood test and they’ve said we need to go and investigate it further.
Once they referred me to the hospital, they then diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome.
And obviously I felt like that was actually one of my most stressful and anxious times.
I’m quite an anxious person as it is and then knowing that actually, you might not be OK was just another level of anxiety.
So within my DigiCare+ you do also have some counselling sessions included.
It was really nice just to speak to someone and again feel like you are being heard and they are listening to you.
I feel like without that DigiCare+ I would not be able to get to the bottom of my health.
With me having such a great experience with using DigiCare+,
it makes the conversation with my client a lot better because they can really see the value of the benefit.
For more information on Aviva protection products and the wellbeing services available,
visit us online or speak to your financial adviser or your employer.
The annual Health Check and the digital GP services are wellbeing services that are available with the Aviva DigiCare+ app that is accessible with all eligible Aviva Protection products,
and the Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace app that is accessible with Aviva Group Protection products.
The apps and services mentioned are provided by Square Health.
They are non-contractual benefits that Aviva can change or withdraw at any time.
Terms, usage limits and residency restrictions apply.
Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace is a non-contractual benefit which Aviva can change or withdraw at any time. Terms and residency restrictions apply.
Our Group Protection products
Group Life
Financial support for loved ones if an employee dies in service, as well as access to everyday health and wellbeing services.
Group Critical Illness
We’ll pay your employees a tax-free lump sum if they’re diagnosed with a critical illness, or undergo surgery covered by the policy, and survive for at least 14 days from diagnosis.
Group Income Protection
We can support employees on long-term absence due to illness or injury, and our clinical intervention is designed to help them make a safe, timely return to work.
Haven’t found what you’re looking for?
Please speak to your financial adviser. If you do not have one, you can find one at www.unbiased.co.uk
Or simply get in touch with your Aviva Group Protection Client Relationship Manager if you have one.