Zurich Paid UK Claims Totalling Almost £2 Billion in 2016

LONDON, February 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• 99% of retail motor claims paid, and over 99% of all commercial claims 
• 95% of all life insurance claims paid  

Zurich today announces that it paid out almost £2 billion in UK claims payments during the course of 2016.

Over 99% of all general insurance claims were paid, with 130 claims of more than £1 million being made. Typically, the proportion of consumer home claims paid out is lower at 94% - but this is improved on the level from 2015 and well above the industry average*.

Zurich paid out 95% of all Life claims in 2015. Where a minority of claims were not paid, reasons include non-disclosure of medical information on applications and where an income protection customer may have returned to work before the policy's payment period started.

Highlights: 

   
    General Insurance                      Life

    Received over 220,000 new claims       Almost 4,000 new Protection claims
    in total, down from 260,000 in         made in 2016.
    2015.

    Just over half were motor claims,
    with the rest split between        
    casualty and property.
        
    94% of consumer home claims were       90% of critical illness, 85% income
    paid. Where claims weren't paid,       protection, and 98% life retail
    the main reasons we related to         claims paid across 2016.
    customers misunderstanding what
    they could claim for. Wear and
    tear, and not having the right
    cover account for around 80% of    
    these reasons (see below for more  
    details).                          

    Paid 99% of consumer motor claims.     Nearly one in five (19%) critical
                                           illness claims for breast cancer,
                                           nearly a quarter (24%) of income
                                           protection claims for mental
                                           illness.

    Paid over 99% of claims from           GBP1.9m paid for children's
    commercial customers.                  critical illness claims.

    130 individual payments of over        Nearly a quarter (24%) of income
    GBP1 million.                          protection claims were for mental
                                           illness including anxiety, stress
                                           and depression. This was followed
                                           at 17% by cancer, and
                                           musculoskeletal disorders, and back
                                           problems at 10%.

Commenting, Zurich's UK CEO Tulsi Naidu said: 

"Releasing this information helps break the belief that insurers try and shirk their responsibilities. We are proud of our claims record, and paying out £2 billion in one year is a significant amount. It also firmly underlines the huge role we play in getting people and businesses back on their feet.

"That such a small number of claims are declined shows the level to which customers understand what their policy covers - something we are keen to improve even further."

Why are fewer home claims paid? 

Whereas almost all consumer motor claims are paid, this is not the case for retail home property claims. Of those claims turned down, the overwhelming reason is because customers make claims for damage caused by wear and tear - which is not why insurance exists. The second most common reason is where customers make a claim, but do not have the appropriate cover in place. Examples of this could be making a claim for an accident - but not having taken out a provision for accidental damage - or claiming for damage in the garden where this isn't part of the policy cover. Wear and tear, and not having the right cover account for around 80% of declined property claims.

* Industry average claims statistics from the ABI for 2014 and 2015 showed that just 84% of home insurance claims were paid on average. More information can be found here.

https://www.zurich.co.uk/en/about-us/media-centre/company-news

Zurich in the UK 

We supply personal, commercial and local authority insurance through a number of distribution channels, and offer a range of protection, pensions and investment policies available through financial intermediaries for the retail market and via employee benefit consultants for the corporate market.