Record year for payments as £160m was paid out every day in 2016

Last year, a record breaking £160m was paid out to customers every day by insurers and long-term savings firms, according to the ABI.

ABI published its Key Facts 2017 today, and it stated that the equivalent value of 700 houses was paid to customers every day.

Of that £160m, payments included:

  • · £33.3m to motorists for repairing or replacing vehicles and in personal injury claims.
  • · £12.9m in property claims, of which £7.4m was to homeowners, and £5.5m to business owners under commercial claims.
  • · £12.5m from protection policies, such as critical illness, income protection and life insurance, to help people cope with financial strains arising from a serious illness, injury or death.
  • · £8m in liability claims to protect businesses
  • · £1.9m to cover the cost of medical treatments to pets.
  • · £1m to travellers under travel insurance, including often very expensive medical bills.
  • · £574,000 under trade credit insurance to help firms cope with the failure of a trading partner to pay money owed.
  • · On long-term savings and pensions, each day:
  • · £40m was paid in annuity payments
  • · £45m was paid through investment and savings policies.

Huw Evans, ABI’s director general, said: “If insurance did not exist society would not function properly. Without it millions of families and businesses would struggle to cope with unexpected events, and savers would risk retirement poverty. The industry is constantly innovating to meet changing customer needs and focusing on improving trust levels so that customers have confidence that, if the worst happens, then their claim will be paid.”

ABI’s Key Facts also outline how important the UK insurance and long term savings providers are to the economy. According to the report, they:

  • · Contribute £35bn to the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
  • · Pay nearly £12bn in taxes to the UK Government.
  • · Manage assets of £1.7trillion.
  • · Employ over 320,000 people.

Evans continued: “The industry makes a vital contribution to the UK economy as a world-leading sector. This is why the cross-party Treasury Select Committee recently called for it to be treated as a ‘priority sector’ in Brexit negotiations so UK firms can continue to serve our wide customer base in the EU. The sooner businesses have certainty on a constructive future relationship, the better.”

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