LV= protection claim payouts hit £119 million in 2021
- Payouts supported 9,000 families
- Covid claims hit almost £12m and accounted for 16% of life insurance claims
Protection specialist LV= paid record individual protection claims totalling over £119 million during 2021. LV= supported more than 9,000 claimants and their families paying 96% of all individual protection claims including life, critical illness and income protection (including claims in payment prior to 2021 that continued to be paid during 2021).
There has also been strong demand for additional support through LV= Doctor Services, which provides access to six expert medical services via app or phone. In 2021, remote GP appointments rose by 13%, with 97% of appointments offered within four hours.
About the claims
Full details are available in the LV= Claims Report 2021.
LV= paid out over £28 million in Critical Illness claims in 2021 to 362 individuals and families. Cancer accounted for 58% of all critical illness claims, followed by heart attack (11%) and stroke (8%), with the highest payment of £449,982. Almost 6 in 10 claims were made following a cancer diagnosis with breast (32%), bowel (12%) and prostate (7%) accounting for most claims. LV= paid a total of £223,250 for claims involving children from newborn to 18 years old.
Life assurance claims (including terminal illness and 50+ claims) totalled almost £74m***, supporting 6,677 families and their loved ones. The top causes for claims were cancer (39%), Covid-19 (16%) and heart-related conditions (15%).
LV= paid £13.6 million in Income Protection (IP)* claims to nearly 1,000 individuals and families. Musculoskeletal issues (20%), fractures (20%) and cancer (17%), representing nearly 58% of all income protection claims. Some 63% of claimants were male.
Claims for Personal Sick Pay** protection, which is designed for self-employed and contract workers, totalled over £ 2.7m with payments made to 1,122 individuals. The youngest claimant was 19 and the top reasons for claims were musculoskeletal (37%), Covid-19 (21%) and fractures (11%).
Covid-related claims in 2021 totalled almost £12m, paid to over 900 individuals and families. Some 724 life assurance claims totalling £11.3m in 2021 were for Covid-19, and Covid also accounted for 209 income claims in 2021 for Personal Sick Pay and Income Protection.
Claims we were unable to pay
In total, LV= paid 96% of new and ongoing protection claims in 2021. The remainder were not paid for a variety of reasons including failing to disclose existing medical conditions, misrepresentation and fraud, and not meeting the policy definitions. LV= provides a breakdown of these claims by product category and reasons in its latest claims report.