Insurance payouts for claimants with critical illnesses reached a record high in 2009, while non-disclosure cases continued to fall, according to research from Moneyfacts Group.

 

It was reported that insurers paid out in more than 90 per cent of all critical illness claims last year, up from 88.4 per cent in the previous year, which is also up from the 75 per cent when records began to be published in 2004.

 

With insurers focused on reducing the amount of claims that are rejected for non-disclosure 'where relevant information is withheld by the claimant when applying for their policy' only 1.9 per cent of claims were rejected for this reason, which was down from 2.5 per cent in the previous year.

 

There was also a fall in the amount of claims that were rejected for not agreeing with the definition of the illness as set out in the policy, from 9.1 per cent to 7.6 per cent.

 

The leading payout provider of critical illness insurance was Legal and General, who paid out in 93.6 per cent of claims, followed by AXA and Bright Grey, both at 93 per cent.

 

Non-disclosure has been a contentious area for the industry for many years, and it looks like the work of providers and the Association of British Insurers(ABI) to solve the problem is having an effect.