Legal & General makes record retail protection claims payouts

It provided a total of £883 million to 17,768 claims last year

Legal & General makes record retail protection claims payouts

Financial services group Legal & General provided a record £883 million to 17,768 claims across life insurance, income protection, and critical/terminal illness products in 2022, which means that it paid out an average of over £2.4 million in retail protection claims a day last year.

The total amount of claims paid last year was £85.76 million more when compared with the total claims paid in 2021, and brought the total amount paid out to customers to £3.8 billion over the last five years. The number of claims paid across Legal & General’s protection product offerings saw a 5% increase on the previous year.

Cancer, heart, and neurological conditions were the most common claim causes for life insurance, while COVID-19, previously number three in the list of reasons, has dropped to number six. The use of wellbeing support services has doubled since 2021.

Legal & General, which enjoyed a 12% increase in profits in 2022, recently announced changes to its commission structure for protection policy sales, returning to the commission on policy authorisation model following feedback from its advisers and partners.

“Legal & General is committed to paying as many claims as possible to our valued customers,” David Banks (pictured), director of claims and underwriting at Legal & General Retail,” stated in a news update provided by the group. “We’re proud to have provided increased financial support for a record number of people at their time of need over the last year. This demonstrates the value of protection and the need for coverage across people’s lives.

“While the financial support we offer to individuals and their families when they face a sudden loss of income is critical, we’re incredibly proud of the additional wellbeing services we’ve provided for our customers.

“Protection goes far beyond paying claims, and we continue to put the ongoing emotional and physical health of our customers first through enhancing our extensive umbrella benefits.”

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