Royal London has improved its critical illness cover (CIC) to help pay more protection claims.

The insurer has added new definitions that pay out the full amount and others that pay out a partial amount without reducing the sum assured.

It has also enhanced a number of existing adult and child definitions to further improve its range of cover on its menu plans.

The improvements have been brought in as a result of ongoing reviews of claims outcomes to maximise the number of claims that can be paid in the future.

Medical issues relating to the heart is one of the big three reasons for claims, so new additional cover relating to cardiomyopathy as well as heart failure has been added.

Children’s enhanced critical illness cover has been updated to widen the definition of spina bifida and the change to the bacterial meningitis definition will have the biggest effect for children’s cover with an expected reduction in claims being delayed or not paid. A full overview of the changes can be seen here.

Jennifer Gilchrist (pictured), proposition specialist at Royal London, said: “It’s essential we keep our focus on reviewing and revising our critical illness definitions to achieve the best possible outcomes for customers so we can pay as many claims as possible. The improvements we’ve made ensure we provide valuable cover with clear and understandable definitions for the conditions that customers are most likely to claim on.

“We’re also very aware that insurance isn’t just about financial support so we’ve re-energised our Helping Hand service to ensure more customers can benefit from emotional and practical help. It’s a valuable service which provides a listening ear, empathy and support to help people cope with their experience of illness or bereavement regardless of whether they claim or not.”

Alan Lakey, director at CIExpert, added: “Royal London has made tremendous strides in recent years, particularly with its high quality child cover. This upgrade focuses primarily on the adult cover and extends the prospect of a claim payment by the addition of five conditions together with improved claim wordings on eight others. Those advisers who focus on quality plans will welcome these enhancements.”