APRA has released the results of a prudential discussion paper titled Towards a transparent public reporting regime for life insurance claims information, which was released in May 2017.
The results of the initial data collection, released yesterday, found that 126,300 life insurance claims were reported in 2016 – of which 103,100 were finalised (equating to 81.6 per cent of all reported claims).
Of the finalised claims, 92.1 per cent were admitted by the insurer and 7.9 per cent were declined.
ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell said the figures were in line with ASIC’s research into the same topic, released in October 2016.
“Importantly, the analysis of this initial data reinforces the findings of ASIC’s Report 498 that over 90 per cent of life insurance claims are paid in the first instance by insurers,” Mr Kell said.
An APRA statement accompanying the data noted that decline and withdrawal rates “are not expected to be zero”.
“A portion of claims fall outside the policy terms and insurers can and do legitimately decline such claims. Some policyholders will also withdraw their claim when it becomes apparent that it is outside the terms of the policy,” said APRA.
APRA member Geoff Summerhayes said, “Significant progress has been made to date on this initiative to develop a consistent public reporting regime for claims data and claims outcomes, which will improve transparency and accountability in the life insurance industry.”
