Bright Grey paid out 91% of critical illness claims in the last six months of 2011.

The protection specialist also reported that 2% of claims were declined for non-disclosure.

The average critical illness payout was £82,000.

Cancer remained the most common reason for a claim (55%), followed by heart attack (10%), stroke (10%) and multiple sclerosis (9%).

47% of claims were made by people who were 40 or under, while the youngest claimant was 23 years old having suffered a stroke.

Roger Edwards, proposition director at Bright Grey, said: “Over half of our claims were for cancer which might appear to be a frightening statistic. But the good news is that with better screening and earlier testing