AEGON has extended its tele-claims service to include income protection, waiver of premium and total and permanent disability, following a roll-out in March of the tele-claims service across critical illness and terminal illness claims.

AEGON says its tele-claims pilot for critical illness and terminal illness claims saw the average time for a claim decision to be made reduced from 10 to five weeks.

The provider says its claims assessors have a minimum of five years experience and are able to discuss and explain policy definitions and answer customer queries over the phone.

Matt Rann, group head of underwriting and claims at AEGON, said: “When advisers began to understand that their customers were speaking to highly trained claims assessors and that the speed of the claims process was significantly improved