Yes, policies do pay out.

I sometimes hear criticism levelled at the insurance industry in general that insurance companies will do their level best to wriggle out of paying claims. In my experience, a reputable insurance company won't attempt to wriggle out of a genuine claim, where the client has kept fully and honestltly to their side of the contract.

So I watch the actual claims statistics published by the various insurance companies with interest - not a ghoulish interest but rather as a reminder of what insurance is really all about.

In 2009 Irish Life paid out a quarter of a billion euro in death, specified illness and income protection claims to five thousand Irish Families. That's just one company, albeit a BIG one in terms of market share. But there's nearly a hundred families a week that were undoubtedly glad that they didn't reject the idea of insurance as a waste of money.