British Friendly has announced it paid 90% of new Income Protection claims in 2022 and just over £5m to its members in Income Protection and discretionary BF Care claims. T
It has paid 94% of all claims over the last 17 years.
The five most common reasons for claims in 2022 were:
- Musculoskeletal – 46.77%
- Covid-19 – 14.19%
- Mental Illness – 6.97%
- Surgery (not covered in other categories) – 6.38%
- Chest/Lung/Nose/Throat – 5.79%
When British Friendly’s Simplified moratorium product is excluded the overall claims rate is 92%.
The main reasons for declined claims were 34.81% due to misrepresentation, while Simplified product pre-existing conditions under the moratorium period accounted for 26.67% and definition of incapacity not met was 21.48%.
Maxine Jannetta (pictured), head of claims at British Friendly, said: “Being a mutual insurer, our members are at the heart of our proposition and paying valid claims quickly, alongside supporting members to rehabilitate and recover is our primary focus. We have a full package of support through BF Care and Mutual Benefits that supports the core policy and ensures that members have what we believe is a highly valuable and comprehensive Income protection cover.”