- Improved definitions for three conditions to help pay more claims
- Amount payable for children’s cancer diagnoses increased to &50,000
Aviva has enhanced its Life Insurance+ and Critical Illness+ products by making changes to four definitions which centre on the most common payment areas of heart conditions, strokes and cancers.
The changes have been made to improve clarity and consistency across similar conditions which we expect would lead to a greater likelihood of having a successful claim.
By improving the definition for three of the critical illness conditions covered we expect more customers with a diagnosis of the condition to meet the description under which payment would be made. These three conditions are cardiomyopathy, spinal stroke and benign spinal cord tumour1.
As part of the changes, the spinal stroke definition has also been aligned with the stroke definition and the definition for benign spinal cord tumours has been aligned to benign brain tumours, to improve consistency.
These changes mean that for conditions such as spinal strokes, Aviva will be able to make payment at an earlier point following diagnosis2 and for benign spinal cord tumour claims there is no longer a need to wait for permanent symptoms3. For cardiomyopathy the definition has now been broadened to include three measures of severity, including the insertion of a defibrillator4.
In recognition that cancer is the most common cause of claim for children and understanding the financial impact on a family when a child is diagnosed with cancer, Aviva has doubled the maximum benefit payable where upgraded children’s benefit has been selected. Customers with a child diagnosed with cancer will now be able to claim up to &50,000 to help them during their difficult time.
In 2016, Aviva paid 92.3% of critical illness claims. This consists of 4,268 claims over 37 separate definitions paying a total of over &311m5.
Mark Cracknell, Head of Protection Distribution, Aviva, said:
“We are incredibly proud that the protection products we launched last year have been so successful and that we were able to pay more than 92% of critical illness claims, but we continually look at our claims experience and customer feedback to see whether further enhancements can be made that will add real benefit to the customer. That’s exactly what we’ve done here.
“The changes we have made mean that we will be able to pay out on even more claims for some of the more common conditions. Moreover, for children’s cancer claims, which make up over half of our child critical illness claims, we will be able to give even more financial support for families when they need it most.”
References
1Cardiomyopathy and spinal stroke are covered under the main critical illness product; benign spinal cord tumour is under the Upgraded critical illness part of the product.
2We have removed the requirement for permanent neurological deficit where instead there is definite evidence on scans of a stroke having occurred and the neurological symptoms last at least 24 hours.
3 There is no longer a need to wait for confirmation of permanent symptoms if invasive surgery or certain treatments have been performed. Surgical removal is the most commonly used treatment for this type of condition. Most are surgically removed without causing permanent neurological deficit. Macmillan
4Previously, a valid claim required a definite diagnosis and a certain severity threshold to have been met. The definition has now been broadened to include three measures of severity, including the insertion of a defibrillator.
5 Figures taken from the 2016 Aviva Protection Claims Report
