LV= handles £3.7m in Covid-19 claims

Two months after its first Covid-19 claim, LV= has paid out 150 pandemic-related claims to policyholders with short waiting period personal sick pay policies. Payments totalled £50,000 with the most common claimant occupations being nurse, care assistant, carpenter, hairdresser and builder. The youngest claimant was 21 and the oldest 60, with an average age of 36 years. Claims – 24% male and 76% female – were all assessed individually by telephone and paid into accounts within two days.

LV= received more than 270 coronavirus-related death claims from members totalling over £3.6m, including non-underwritten life policies. For underwritten life policies, the highest claim value was £380,000, the oldest claimant was 87 and the youngest was 47 with 74% of death claims for men.

LV= Doctor Services provides members with access to six expert medical services provided by Square Health. Over the pandemic period, LV= has seen 35% uplift in Dr Services app downloads and 90% increase in remote GP appointments.

Debbie Kennedy, director of protection at LV=, said: “LV= saw a 70% rise in call volumes to our claims teams during the first weeks of lockdown and I’m proud of the way our team rose to the challenge and provided members with much-needed individual support during an extremely difficult time

“The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic is shocking and the families who have lost loved ones will be devastated. Yet it’s in times like these that the strengths of mutuality can come to the fore.

“We understand the emotional impact of bereavement and are doing all we can to make sure death claims are paid as quickly as possible so that families do not have to worry about the immediate financial impact of bereavement while they are grieving.