Legal & General: Non-disclosure ‘an issue’ with life insurance claims

16 July 2007

Millions of people are not getting the most out of their critical illness insurance as they are not disclosing key information, according to one insurer.

Legal & General has claimed that, while application forms for cover provide “clear, unequivocal warnings” as to the disclosure of conditions, many people are still not making sure their insurance company knows all the relevant details and could be at risk of being turned down in the event of a claim.

A spokesperson for Legal & General said: “We paid over £92 million in critical illness claims (83.3 per cent) in 2006. Of the declined claims, 12.2 per cent were for non-disclosure.”

When asked whether customers should review their policies in case they had not disclosed vital information, he explained: “We welcome any move by a life insurer to improve customer confidence in critical illness cover.

“However, what many people may not realise is that, under certain circumstances, the industry already pays claims where there is non-disclosure that had no effect on the application terms.”

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