Friends Life has revealed its claim figures for children from 2013. In total £1,471,900 was paid to families for a wide range of illnesses.

Two thirds of claims were cancer-related with benign brain tumour, open heart surgery and multiple sclerosis the next three most claimed for conditions. The average pay out for a child claim was £19,625.

Friends Life has made further enhancements to its comprehensive Childcover benefit. The only provider to cover serious debilitating child specific illnesses, Friends Life has now added spina bifida to its cover, the most serious of which can affect 1 in 1,000 pregnancies.

Cover has also been extended to children up to the age of 21 who are not working full time and the exclusion for terminal illness has been removed.

“Nothing can compensate a parent for the trauma of a seriously ill child, but being able to help families when this occurs is one of the most rewarding things we do as an insurer,” said Chris Pollard, head of underwriting, claims and operations for Friends Life Individual Protection.

“I am really proud that we can offer child cover benefits and cover for child specific illnesses to customers as part of our critical illness policy. Paying out almost £1.5 million last year will have really helped a lot of families when they needed it most.”