Shepherds Friendly paid out 95% of its Income Protection claims in 2021 and has also paid an average of 95% of claims over the past five years.
The greatest number of claims received were for musculoskeletal issues (43%), mental health (15%) and Covid-19 (14%).
Reasons for declined claims included non-disclosure and not meeting the terms and conditions of the plan.
Shepherds Friendly also paid out £12,000 on their additional Death Benefit that comes at no extra cost to the policyholder as part of its Enhanced Income Protection Benefits.
Enhanced experience for Income Protection members
The mutual has made an important change to its proposition to help advisers and their clients in the past year.
Its members now have access to Nuffield Health Benefits as standard with their Income Protection plan.
This offers free access to Virtual GP appointments (powered by Doctor Care Anywhere), emotional wellbeing support and discounted gym memberships.
In recent years, the Society has also enhanced claims handlers’ qualifications to include CII and Mental Health First Aid training, enabling them to provide a more comprehensive professional and personal claims experience.
Free access to rehabilitation services is also on offer for clients. These include physiotherapy and mental health support, as well as occupational health and vocational support services (provided by Enable).
It means members suffering from sickness or injury can get back to their normal daily lives quicker.
Ben Mason, protection manager at adviser LightBlue UK, said: “We’re pleased to see mutual insurers continuing to achieve high claims paid rates.
“It’s important that insurers keep this up because consumers think insurers pay out far less than they actually do. A few percent movement here and there isn’t the end of the world, the main thing is that insurers are still paying out way more than the public believes.
“For advisers, claims data can be used to prove to sceptical clients that these policies, especially the most important ones like income protection, actually do deliver on their promises.”
Ann-Marie O’Dea, chief executive officer at Shepherds Friendly, said: “As a financial mutual that is built on fairness, everything we do is for our members, not shareholders.
“We are pleased again to report a high level of pay-out across a range of conditions on our income protection policies, demonstrating the valuable support we have given our members at the time they have needed it the most.”
