Bank of Ireland customers received over €123m in life, serious illness and income protection claims in 2018, an increase of 11% on the year before. These included life cover payments of more than €75m, specified illness claims of more than €31m and income protection claims over €12m.
The average claim for life cover was €54,876 in 2018 with 60% of claims related to men. The top three conditions for life cover claims by individuals were cancer (36%), heart (18%) and respiratory (9%), which all remained fairly consistent with 2017 figures. 46% of claims arose within less than 10 years of the policy being taken out.
The average claim for specified illness in 2018 was €76,257, an increase of almost €3,000 on last year, with 55% of claims related to men. Cancer related illness claims increased by 2% (to 58%), heart related claims dropped by 4% (to 17%) while neurological claims dropped by 5% (to 9%) from 2017 figures. 77% of claimants were under 59 with 49% of claims arising within less than 10 years of the policy being taken out.
More than a quarter (28%) of income protection claims are related to mental illness, with 31% related to musculoskeletal issues and one in five (19%) related to cancer. Three quarters (75%) of claims for income protection were paid to women last year.
Our brochure gives a further insight into claims at a regional level.