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.

Claims - It could be you

For a bit of light reading, I was just reading over Irish Life's claims statistics for 2008. An insurance company's claim-paying record is hugely important.

In 2008 Irish Life paid out over €220 million in claims, broken down roughly as follows: -

• More than €134 million in life cover claims to over 2000 families
• More than €34 million in Specified Illness claims; and
• More than €52 million to over 3,000 Income Protection claimants

Considering that this is one company, albeit the largest in the country, these are sobering statistics. No doubt each claimant thought they would never need the cover when they took it out.