Insurance company has to pay out nearly £100,000

A well known insurance company has been told that it has to pay one of its customers nearly £100,000 after being forced to pay out on the customer’s critical illness claim. In addition to the amount of the claim, which the customer has been battling for over the last year, the insurance firm, Legal and General, also has to pay interest of 8% to the claimant after incorrectly refusing her claim.

The policyholder was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and was covered for the condition under her critical illness policy. However, according to a report the Legal and General failed to carry out adequate checks on her records when she took out the cover, but then refused her claim on the grounds of non-disclosure when she was diagnosed with the cancer.

The conditions that the insurance firm claims the customer failed to disclose were not even related to cancer, and included an eye condition and a period of depression. An official from the insurance firm stated:  ‘It is not disputed that the cause of the claim was not related to the non-disclosure, but an insurance contract cannot be completed if it is based on false or misleading information.’

Although the firm has been ordered to pay the money, official from L&G added: ‘Decisions to decline claims are taken extremely seriously and we felt we followed industry guidelines at the time. We regret any distress that Jacqueline suffered.’