AIG Life paid out a record £394m in protection insurance claims to 6,900 customers and their families who were bereaved or ill last year.
The UK life-insurance firm said it provided support to more than 5,200 individuals, families and businesses in 2023 by paying 95% of all individual protection claims.
It also offered vital support through rehabilitation and care services.
The £206m it paid in personal protection claims is up from £204m in 2022, and an 11% increase in the number of claims paid on the previous year.
It means AIG Life helped an extra 500 people and their loved ones after an individual had died, experienced a life-changing illness or when they were too ill to work.
AIG Life, which is now part of Aviva Group, said it paid 99% of individual life-insurance claims, 95% of terminal-illness claims and 95% of critical-illness claims, along with 88% of income-protection claims.
It also paid almost £173,000 to more than 500 families through its unique Claims Support Fund.
This discretionary fund pays up to £500 (increased from £300 in 2023) to cover the extra unexpected costs that families face when they suffer a bereavement or illness, like hospital parking and travel costs, tools to help their recovery such as a treadmill or recliner chair, or even convert a downstairs bathroom into a wet room.
In group protection, £188m was paid in claims to provide more than 1,650 families with financial support after a loved one died, as well as a continued income and rehabilitation services when an employee was too ill to work.
AIG Life chief operating officer, Neil Davies, said: “Every single claim paid is a family or business we’ve helped during one of life’s toughest times.
“The feedback we receive from customers and their beneficiaries when they go through a bereavement or illness tells us that the claims we pay make a real difference.
“This industry really does care about being there for people when they need us most. It’s important we deliver at times like these and we do all we can to help consumers see the humanity of what we do, and the huge value protection offers.”
Life insurance and terminal illness benefit claims
More than £164m was paid out in over 4,400 individual life insurance and terminal-illness benefit claims last year.
Analysis of AIG Life’s claimants found almost a third of people (32%) who died had cancer, while 17% had heart disease and 13% had a respiratory condition.
Almost all (96%) terminal-illness claims were for individuals with cancer, and the youngest person among those was just 22 years old.
Critical illness (including children’s critical illness claims)
AIG Life paid out £38m in critical-illness claims to 617 individuals and families who had experienced a serious or life-changing illness.
A further 73 payments were also made to families whose child had suffered a children’s critical illness, or to families whose young child had died.
Income protection
AIG Life also supported 110 customers who were too ill to work in 2023 by paying over £2m in individual income-protection claims.
Of these, 20% also received additional rehabilitation and recuperation support to help them get back to their best.
A third of people (33%) who received a monthly income protection payout had musculoskeletal challenges, and almost a fifth (19%) were suffering with their mental wellbeing. Cancer was third, amounting to 9% of claims.
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