Critical Illness claims turned down

Critical illness claims turned down

Norwich Union (now Aviva) has admitted that it it turned down nearly 25% of critical illness claims in 2005. Around 335 claims were turned down from 1458 claims that were made. As with other types of insurance it is vital that individuals purchasing insurance are up front about the questions asked. Life insurance products along with unemployment cover, medical cover, critical illness cover and pet insurance all ask about pre-existing contitions and usually don't cover for these, questions for example about smoking, answered incorrectly can lead to the insurance company failing to pay out if you claim no longer to smoke but actually do. Also information can be innocently not disclosed

The Law Commission are currently looking into legislation that would force insurers to pay out if three years have passed since a policy was taken out and the insurer believes that a non disclosure of pertinant information was made.