Zurich has reported that 91.7% of critical illness claims were successful with payments benefitting 368 customers to the value of £29.5 million.

Over the same period, £65.7m was paid out to 852 life insurance customers – with proceeds for both totalling £95.2m.

6.4% of critical illness claims were declined because the definition of the applicant’s condition was not met and 1.7% were declined for non-disclosure of medical information. 100% of the insurer’s life claims were accepted.

Cancer was by far the most common cause for critical illness claims at 62%, followed by heart attack accounting for 13%, stroke 8% and multiple sclerosis a further 4%.

The largest critical illness claim paid over the period was for £500,000 and for life insurance this was £4m.

Peter Hamilton, head of retail propositions said: “We are proud of the fact all of our life, and the vast majority of our critical illness claims, have been paid out swiftly to help our customers when they need us most.

“We are aware that when our customers make a claim they are either extremely unwell or have suffered a bereavement – and so sensitive and smooth handling of their case is paramount.

“During the first half of this year, we have implemented a number of improvements to speed up claims for our customers with more activity planned for the rest of the year. These include offering the option to pay claim related costs directly from claim proceeds, and being able to accept claims evidence via email and scanning.”