Aviva paid out more than £1.89 billion across nearly 62,000 individual and group protection claims in 2024, demonstrating the vital role that protection insurance plays in supporting UK customers and their families in their time of need.
Following the completion of the AIG Life acquisition last year, Aviva’s protection claims data now includes claims by customers with former AIG Life policies[2], which have now rebranded to Aviva Protection UK.
The figures are released ahead of the launch of Aviva’s Individual Protection Claims and Wellbeing Report and a Group Protection Claims Report in May which, together with a series of webinar events, are designed to help advisers demystify protection during conversations with clients.
Alongside the numbers, the reports provide an insight into Aviva’s claims support and rehabilitation services, how customers use and benefit from added-value services, as well as customers’ individual stories on how their protection policy has supported them.
Fran Bruce, Managing Director of Protection at Aviva, said: “Claims are very much at the heart of what we do, with the data from our combined business showing the sheer scale of financial support for customers going through difficult times. Although paying claims is the foundation of our business, we know that delivering a great service and having the right support throughout makes a huge difference to our customers.
“The rehabilitation and back-to-work services we provide on our income protection policies are delivering really positive outcomes, our wellbeing apps are hugely valued by customers and their families, while our signposting to partners such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Grief Encounter and Red Apple Law helps many customers manage the daily challenges they face.
“We are investing in data science to further improve our claims processes and we remain steadfast in our mission to deliver valuable protection cover and value-added benefits that ensure our customers and their families are well-supported in every aspect of their lives.”
Individual Protection claims paid
Just over £1.3 billion was paid out last year on more than 52,000 claims to customers and families with an individual protection policy. 97.1% of all claims received were paid.
The significant majority of claims paid were on Life policies, including Terminal Illness benefit. 98.8% of claims were paid, with more than 41,000 claims paid totaling just over £862 million. Many claimants were also supported by a range of bereavement services including counselling, a support helpline, legal services, a bereavement guide and fast-tracked funeral payments.
More than £405 million was paid out to customers with critical illness, children’s benefit or Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) claims. Just over 5,600, or 91.5% of all claims received, were paid with an average payment of £71,989.
On individual income protection policies, just over 4,300 claims were accepted last year, receiving benefit totaling more than £61 million. 90.1% of all claims received last year were paid. The average duration of a claim is six years and nine months, with the longest-running claim still in payment in 2024 standing at 39 years.
Aviva’s individual protection claims data also includes claims for Fracture Cover, hospital benefit on Critical Illness and Income Protection policies, and pregnancy cover on Critical Illness policies.
|
Individual Protection |
Number of claims paid |
Value of claims paid |
|
Life and Terminal Illness |
41,424 |
£862,140,668.48 |
|
Critical Illness, Children’s Benefit and TPD |
5,637 | £405,802,425.59 |
|
Income Protection |
4,330 |
£61,884,389.23 |
| Fracture Cover | 788 | £1,994,200.00 |
|
Hospital benefit & pregnancy cover |
489 |
£740,771.75 |
| Total | 52,668 | £1,332,562,455.05 |
Group Protection claims paid
Across all group protection policies, more than £559 million was paid out to over 9,300 claimants.
Group Income Protection claims that were in payment during the year totaled just over 5,800, with more than £127 million in benefits paid out. The average payout per claimant was £21,899 and more than 2,600 employees and 290 employers were supported with rehabilitation services. 86% of employees who received rehabilitation support successfully returned to or remained at work.
On Group Critical Illness more than £49 million was paid out to just over 680 customers, with an average payout of £72,000. Within this, just over £429,000 was paid out to 32 claimants on their policy’s children’s cover.
Just over 2,800 of the claims were on Group Life policies where lump sums and death in service payments totaled more than £383 million. The average payout was £135,989 and the average speed of payout was just under three days.
|
Group Protection |
Number of claims paid |
Value of claims paid |
| Group Life |
2,817 |
£383,082,886 |
| Group Critical Illness |
689 |
£49,622,318 |
| Group Income Protection |
5,810 |
£127,233,837 |
| Total |
9307 |
£559,951,405 |
Wellbeing services
The Aviva Digicare+ and Aviva Digicare+ Workplace apps provided by Square Health, and the Aviva Smart Health app provided by Teladoc, continue to help a great number of customers in the detection, management and prevention of health and wellbeing problems.[3]
More than 183,500 customers registered with Aviva Digicare+ and Aviva Digicare+ Workplace in 2024, bringing the total number of registrations since launch in 2020 to more than half a million customers.
With a further 177,000 customers and dependents registered with the Aviva Smart Health app since launch in 2019, this means that more than 680,000[4] customers have engaged with valuable wellbeing services such as a Digital GP and mental health and nutrition support.
