Royal London’s UK Intermediary protection business has paid out £132 million to critical illness policyholders during 2014.

Over last year 94% of all critical illness claims were paid with just 1% of claims declined for non-disclosure.

Royal London’s intermediary business includes the brands Scottish Provident and Bright Grey.

The average pay out for a critical illness claim was £87,069 with the largest pay out at just over £900,000. The average age of a claimant was 48 years old and the youngest adult claimant was just 24 years old. Around two thirds of all critical illness claims were for cancer (65%), followed by heart attack (13%) and stroke (6%).

In addition, 98% of all term life cover claims were paid in 2014 totalling just over £58 million.

Debbie Kennedy, head of protection proposition for Royal London’s Intermediary Division, said: “It’s pleasing to see such a high claims paid figure which helps generate massive confidence in Royal London with advisers and their clients. All too often the public only get to hear about those cases where claims have been declined, but with just 1% of our critical illness claims being rejected for non- disclosure, consumers can be confident that their claim will be paid.

“It is also interesting to see that once again the same four illnesses account for nearly 90% of all the critical illness claims that were paid in 2014. This is why we continue to focus our definition enhancements on the most common reasons for claims so that we can add real value and be able to pay even more claims in 2015.”