Aviva paid more than 57,000 protection claims in 2022, with an average of over £3,950,000 paid each day. But the ways we help our protection customers go beyond even this, as Fran Bruce, Managing Director, Aviva Protection explains...
Total value of claims rises above £1.45 billion
That’s a big number – combining £1.07 billion paid out in Individual Protection claims and £373 million in Group Protection - but so what? Lots of insurers will be releasing their claims statistics and citing big numbers. What makes us different? Don’t get me wrong, the numbers are hugely important, but I think it’s also important to look beyond the figures to see the wider impact providers and advisers can have in helping people when they need us most.
Supporting more people, paying out more claims
This isn’t to say that the numbers don’t tell a story of their own. Aviva’s latest claims figures demonstrate how far we’ve progressed towards our ambition to be the UK’s number 1 protection provider.
And the numbers really matter because behind the numbers are people; real people who needed our help.
We paid 57,868 claims in 2022 – that’s 50,595 Individual Protection claims and 7,273 Group Protection claims, helping people during a difficult time in their lives. And that’s the third year in a row that number has topped 57,000. That’s not to be sniffed at.
But let’s not forget the other ways we’ve helped customers. We’ve gone beyond helping with financial support to provide early intervention, rehabilitation, and emotional support to more people than ever before.
Going beyond financial help to offer customers ongoing support
I’m proud of the fact that Aviva’s protection is about helping people live their best lives, not just providing financial security in the most difficult times of all. This is support that offers value throughout life, not just in the super tough times.
View our Individual Protection claims report
View our Group Protection claims report
Aviva DigiCare+ – helping more people to access healthcare fast
We offer access to services that deliver everyday care – such as the DigiCare+ apps, powered by Square Health, which 160,882 people had registered to use by the end of 2022. Last year, this service achieved a success rate of 99% in delivering digital GP appointments within its target time of 24 hours.
This isn’t all the service offers. Among other valuable services, it also includes access to an annual self-administered heath check –ordered by 24,752 people in 2022. It’s hard to overstate the long-term benefits to health this will have delivered: for example, the test found that 47% of users were found to have cholesterol levels outside of the normal range - which might otherwise have gone undetected.
I feel this represents a significant achievement in a year where challenges still exist for healthcare providers.
Helping more people than ever before to return to work
Our rehabilitation services also played a big part in the full package of care offered to customers in 2022.
3,069 customers received our rehabilitation service – helping as many as possible return to, or remain at, work following our intervention.
Across Aviva Protection, the proportion of employees returning to work included 82% of customers with a mental health condition and 93% of those with a musculoskeletal disorder.
More new services introduced in 2022
2022 wasn’t just about doing the same things well. It was very much about new forms of support, too:
In Individual Protection…
- We’ve improved our critical illness cover. New policies now include extended cover for prostate cancer under the full payment cancer definition, plus a new non-melanoma skin cancer additional benefit definition. We’ve also extended cover for other conditions, including dementia and mental health. These improvements will help even more customers and help us pay claims quicker.
- We’ve changed the amount we pay out under additional benefits within our upgraded adult critical illness cover. We have raised the upper limit from £25,000 to £30,000. This will put more money in the pocket of our customers at the most challenging of times.
- Our partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support continued to help customers benefit from a smoother, faster claims process. In many Individual Protection cases, Macmillan’s Clinical Nurse Specialist can verify a diagnosis without waiting for medical reports, reducing waits from up to 60 days down to as little as 24 hours.
In Group Protection…
- We launched three new Group Income Protection clinical pathways, including our specialist neurodiversity support pathway, providing workplace support to customers struggling to stay in work due to conditions such as autism and ADHD. We followed this up by introducing neurological and cardiac pathways to help customers to safely, and sustainably, return to the workforce.
- We added access to Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace onto our Group Life proposition, meaning that now, all insured Group Protection employees can register for the app and services. As well as this, we introduced new legal services on Group Life to provide customers with help to plan for their life journey. Support included help with estate administration services, and supporting next of kin to manage affairs when a loved one passes away.
- Through our Group Income Protection, our mental health expert Paul Murray delivered specialist mental health training to 8,130 employees. 92% said they were extremely satisfied with the training they received.
And together, across Aviva Protection….
- Macmillan Cancer Support has trained many of our claim’s teams, to better understand and support those living with cancer. Our people can also signpost our customers to a wide range of advice and services from Macmillan.
- With our Project Teddy initiative, we’ve helped raise the spirits of children and their families going through critical illness by sending out 460 gifts.
What lies beyond our 2022 claims figures
There’s one thing that I think is especially important to bring out in the light of our latest claims figures. Of course, you’re looking for numbers and there’s no doubt that the figures we’ve shared add up to a package of support that your clients can count on. But there’s more to it than this. As Amanda Blanc, our Chief Executive Officer said on the release of our full year results:
“Every customer that chooses Aviva, every life or business we protect, every claim we handle well is down to our brilliant people who make it click, every time, for our customers."
It’s these people who make a difference for your clients, and when they do need to deal with us, they’re assured of sensitive and caring support from a team of dedicated individuals who go above and beyond in their determination to put the customer’s needs first. That’s what matters most.
So, as we release these figures, I want to say thank you for your support over the last year. Without your help, we couldn’t have helped the huge number of customers we have in 2022.
From paying out claims to helping people live their best lives, being here for our customers when they need us is why we do what we do. And to know that we’ve made a difference to so many lives is both humbling and hugely motivating.
Fran Bruce
Managing Director, Protection, Aviva
Find out more about Aviva Protection
Individual Protection
Group Protection
Footnotes
- £1,445,012,399 amount paid:
£373,949,994 Group Protection. £1,071,062,405 Individual Protection. - 160,882 DigiCare+ registrations:
43,728 Group Protection Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace registrations. 117,154 Individual Protection Aviva DigiCare+ registrations. Data provided by Square Health. - 99% of Digital GP appointments available within 24 hours:
99% Group Protection. 99% Individual Protection. Data provided by Square Health. - 24,752 Health Checks ordered:
9,424 Group Protection. 15,328 Individual Protection. Data provided by Square Health. - 3,069 Rehabilitation customers:
2,508 Group Protection. 561 Individual Protection.