Some 34 customers were paid an average monthly benefit of £1,217. There were a total of 655 policies claimed on with the highest monthly benefit paid being £9124.25.
In 2013, Zurich paid out £12.3m in income protection claims with an average monthly benefit of £1,421.
Muscoskeletal problems including spinal injuries accounted for almost a third of claims (32%) during H1, with cancer second at 18%, then neurological illness (12%) and psychological conditions (9%).
Peter Hamilton, head of retail propositions at Zurich (pictured), said: “Income protection cover can make an enormous difference if somebody becomes unable to work due to long-term illness such as cancer – with payments for some customers lasting many years.
“However, across the UK we remain hugely under-insured which is why we have been lobbying the government to grant temporary tax rebates to stimulate the uptake of this type of cover.
“Tax breaks would deliver considerable value to insured people and employers, while the government would end up making substantial long-term savings at a time when we know it has to find viable alternatives to high welfare spending.”
Hamilton added: “If levels of income protection provided through employers in the UK reached those in the US, for example, the benefit to taxpayers and the government would be around three quarters of £1bn per year in annual savings, with claimants covered by the insurance better off by a similar amount compared to the welfare benefit they would have been able to claim.”
