A record £3.6bn was paid in protection insurance claims in 2015 or about £10m a day, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Latest figures from the ABI showed that protection insurers paid claims to more than 129,100 customers or families last year.
Insurers paid out an average of nearly £28,000 to customers who made a claim across life insurance, critical illness (CI) insurance and income protection (IP).
The ABI said overall, 97.2% of protection claims were paid in 2015.
"Every single day, insurers pay out nearly £10m to support families through difficult times. Insurers want to make it as simple and easy as possible for people to claim, and it’s great to see that 97% of these claims are paid,” said Yvonne Braun, ABI director of policy, long-term savings and protection.
"Protection insurance does not just help relieve financial distress, it also provides vital practical support. For instance, income protection supports people with rehabilitation services and back to work support when they have to leave work because of illness or injury,” she added.
According to ABI data, the average IP payout lasted for 214 weeks and was worth £40,000. In 2015, 91.2% of claims were paid out.
The average payout on a CI insurance policy was £66,200 and 93.1% of claims were paid.
For term life insurance, the average payout for a policy was £53,800 with 98.2% of claims being paid. Insurers paid out more than £1.5 billion in claims in 2015.
Also last year, the average claim payment for whole life insurance payment was £5,900 with almost all claims paid. A total £389 million was paid out.
Total permanent disability claims averaged £65,200 with 66.4% of claims being paid.
