UK insurers paid out the equivalent of £131 million to customers every day under general insurance, long-term savings and pension policies according to the definitive industry statistics published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Each day insurers paid out £9.9 million on protection policies, such as critical illness, income protection and life insurance.

Stephen Crosbie, protection director at Aegon, said: “These figures from the ABI help to highlight the value a protection policy can have, should someone need to claim. It’s very encouraging that year after year the industry as a whole is making a positive financial difference to people’s lives by paying all valid claims.

“These figures also reiterate how protection can help ease the financial strain on policyholders and their families during some of the most difficult times they will ever face.

“It’s well known in the industry that a key barrier to closing the protection gap and getting consumers to invest in protection products is lack of confidence in providers to actually pay claims. Worryingly, in spite of industry figures showing the highest number of pay outs ever, there is still a perception among some consumers that few claims are paid.

“These figures from the ABI go some way to help reassure people that providers want to pay as many claims as possible, as does our own claims payment record at Aegon. However, as an industry we need to work together to make better use of these positive figures to alleviate the consumer doubt that continues to linger that providers aren’t paying claims.”