VitalityLife reveals £25m claim payout

The insurer paid out 99.4% of life claims, 91.0% of serious illness claims and 98.0% of income protection claims.

Deepak Jobanputra, deputy chief executive of VitalityLife, said: “The core of our business is to provide peace of mind to customers, and I believe these claims statistics reinforce the real value protection products can provide customers and their families in a time of need.

“Paying claims is clearly an important aspect of what we do, and as an industry we are judged on the number of claims we pay, which is why we continue to improve our products and processes to ensure customers get the best possible cover.”

Claimants’ average ages were 56 for life cover and 44 for serious illness cover, while the largest paid sum was 2,003,567 for life cover and £502,032 for serious illness cover.

Andrew Jenkinson, director at Drewberry Insurance, said: "In our 2015 consumer survey the average response when asked how often insurers pay life claims was 50% when the actual figure is over 90%.

“People are still underestimating the effectiveness of insurance. So it's great that Vitality are showing the public that these products do exactly what they promise.”