APRA releases latest life insurance claims and disputes numbers

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its latest life insurance claims and disputes statistics, covering the first half of 2023 (H1 2023).

The report covers industry and insurer-level data on life insurance claims and disputes outcomes for 17 Australian life insurers writing direct business. It also includes published data on ASIC’s MoneySmart website, an online tool that compares insurers across cover types and distribution channels on four metrics:

• the percentage of claims accepted;
• the length of time taken to pay claims;
• the number of disputes; and
• the policy cancellation rates.

Sum insured

As of June 30, 2023, the sum insured for death (individual advised) was $1,271,875 million – with Zurich ranking first at $304,767 million. It was followed by TAL at $244,628 million and AIAA at $186,952 million.

For total and permanent disability (TPD), the sum insured (individual advised) was $876,506 million – with Zurich still at the top of the list at $198,410 million, followed by TAL ($170,214 million) and AIAA ($139,801 million).

For trauma, the sum insured (individual advised) was $193,329 million. Zurich ranked first at $52,262 million, followed by AIAA ($38,613 million) and TAL ($30,697 million).

For disability income insurance (DII), the sum insured (individual advised) was $6,256 million. TAL had the highest sum insured ($1,309 million), followed by Zurich ($1,281 million) and AIAA ($851 million).

Disputes resolved

As of June 30, 2023, the Australian life insurance industry resolved 200 disputes related to death (individual advised), with the average amount paid being $6,182. Among life insurers covered by APRA, Zurich resolved the greatest number of disputes (72), followed by AIAA and TAL (both 21).

During the same period, the life insurance industry resolved 620 disputes related to TPD, with an average amount paid of $40,167. RLA resolved the greatest number of TPD disputes (185), followed by Zurich (164) and AIAA (95).

For trauma-related disputes, the Australian life insurance industry resolved 316, with an average amount paid of $8,946. Zurich resolved the greatest number of disputes (121), followed by AIAA (77) and RLA (48).

For DII-related disputes, life insurers resolved 2,145 – with an average amount paid of $2,015. RLA resolved the greatest number of disputes (692), followed closely by Zurich (606) and AIAA (267).

See the rest of the data on the APRA website.

In separate news, APRA recently released the Australian general insurance and private health insurance statistics for the June 2023 quarter.