Life & Critical Illness Claims Statistics 2008 AXA Protection Account Four years of protection you can trust

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1 Directed at Professional Financial Advisers only, and should not be distributed to or relied upon by retail customers. Life & Critical Illness Claims Statistics 28 AXA Protection Account Four years of protection you can trust

2 Claims statistics 28 The AXA Protection Account is four years old and we re proud of what we ve achieved for our customers. We re pleased to publish our claims statistics for the first time, helping you feel secure about the protection we offer. Open, honest and committed to paying valid claims From the beginning our philosophy has been to do everything we can to treat our customers fairly and pay all valid claims. The AXA Protection Account has a young book of business, and we ve only had a small number of claims to date. That s why we re sharing with you our claims history in both percentages and actual numbers, so you can have every confidence in our protection cover. It is our intention to continue publishing our statistics annually in the future to keep you fully informed. The AXA Protection Account may still be young, but as a wider business we have a long history of paying thousands of protection claims. Collectively our protection claims team has more than 15 years experience of helping people through the claims process and providing quality support at a time when it s needed most. As a testament to our commitment to pay all valid claims, we developed the first full Tele-underwriting service in the UK. This has resulted in no claims being declined for non-disclosure where the application was Tele-underwritten. Our research has proved Tele-underwriting leads to three times less non-disclosure than paper applications, and half the amount of electronic applications. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the way in which my claim was dealt with. At all stages of the process I was kept informed and whenever I telephoned I was dealt with in a courteous and efficient manner. Also, I would like to commend the swiftness of processing the matter. We take these policies out never expecting to have to make a claim. Tracy, 43, Pembrokeshire

3 Life Cover claims October 27 to September 28 96% 4% Claims paid Claims declined for non-disclosure 96% of all Life Cover claims paid* Life Cover claims October 27 to September 28 Number of claims paid 5 Number declined for non-disclosure where the policy was tele-underwritten Number declined because of non-disclosure 2 Total number of claims 52 Although money will never replace somebody, it can provide financial security for their family, helping to pay off a mortgage or cover monthly outgoings. This year we paid 96% of all Life Cover claims, with only two cases declined for non-disclosure. The average Life Cover payout was more than 65, Average age for male Life Cover claims The emotional and financial impact of losing a loved one is devastating, so we always try to settle claims with the least possible fuss. Our statistics show we pay out Life Cover claims for men with an average age of 44 and women with an average age of 45 far younger than many would expect Male 44 Female 45 Average age for Life Cover claims October 27 to September 28 May I take this opportunity to thank you and your colleagues for the kind, caring and supportive way in which my claim has been handled. From the outset I have always found the staff that I have dealt with to be extremely knowledgeable and efficient. Needless to say, I would not hesitate to recommend AXA to other people and remain extremely grateful for the very professional way in which you and your colleagues have been in all of my dealings with your Coventry office. Mark, 43, West Midlands Source for all Life Cover claims statistics: AXA Claims Department 28. As the name suggests, Life Cover pays out a lump sum should the customer die or be diagnosed with a terminal illness which is expected to cause death within 12 months, and before the cover is due to end. * Figure includes proportionate payments.

4 Critical Illness Cover claims October 27 to September 28 9% 87% 4% Critical Illness claims October 27 to September 28 Number of claims paid 77 Number declined for non-disclosure where the policy was tele-underwritten Number declined because of non-disclosure 8 Number declined because condition did not meet the definition 4 Total number of claims 89 Claims paid Claims declined for non-disclosure Claims declined because condition did not meet definition 87% of all Critical Illness claims paid* Death rates for cancer and heart disease are decreasing, but survival can be expensive. In the past 12 months we paid 87% of Critical Illness claims, helping to provide vital financial assistance. In fact, we only had to decline eight claims for non-disclosure. The average Critical Illness Cover payout was more than 85, Average age for female Critical Illness claims No one likes to think about suffering a serious illness, but the statistics show it can happen to anyone. The average age for Critical Illness claimants is 44 for men, and 43 for women, a time when a serious illness can have a dramatic effect on the whole family s lifestyle and finances Male 44 Female 43 Average age for Critical Illness claims October 27 to September 28 55% Critical Illness claims for cancer The most common critical illnesses people claim for are cancer, heart attack and stroke. However the AXA Protection Account also covers 29 additional serious conditions, as well as including some valuable benefits at no extra cost, such as children s cover and total mastectomy cover. 17% 55% Cancer Heart Attack MS Children s cover Other 2% 2% 5% 6% 13% Stroke Benign Brain Tumour AXA Claims department: heritage book paid claims Because we ve had too few claims under the AXA Protection Account to give a useful picture of the most common illnesses, we ve taken these percentages from our heritage business to ensure accuracy. Source for all Critical Illness Cover claims statistics: AXA Claims Department 28. If a customer contracts any critical illness specified in their policy and survives for at least 14 days, they ll receive a lump sum. Critical Illness Cover can also provide an early payout if they have 12 months or less to live from a terminal illness, and they re still within the policy period. Customers must be aged when the cover starts. Some forms of illness such as certain types of cancer are not covered. We recommend that your customer reads our Critical Illness Guide, which provides the full definitions of what we cover. * Figure includes proportionate payments.

5 Continuing to make things better One of our top priorities is to reduce non-disclosure and we ve built this philosophy into all our processes to try and make a difference and ensure we treat our customers fairly. We ve developed a grey claims committee which meets to discuss any borderline case and ensure a fair outcome. We were also the first provider to introduce a full in-house Tele-underwriting service in the UK, which has proved to virtually eliminate non-disclosure. % of claims have been declined for non-disclosure where the application was Tele-underwritten Source: AXA Underwriting Department November 28. Why we sometimes can t pay Where important information is not disclosed Sometimes we have to decline a claim because the customer did not tell us important information when they applied. Where a condition is not valid Critical Illness Cover is intended for serious illnesses. However sometimes customers mistakenly try to claim for minor illnesses that aren t critical. When a customer asked to claim for multiple sclerosis, his GP told us the first symptoms of the condition, including numbness in the hands, feet and toes occurred three months prior to the application being filled out. When he was asked during his application whether he had experienced any tingling or numbness in the limbs, he answered No. The claim was declined on the basis that had proper disclosure taken place the cover would not have been granted. The Financial Ombudsman Service upheld our decision. A customer asked to claim for a heart attack under his Critical Illness policy. His GP reported he hadn t had a heart attack, but rather a chest infection. Therefore the claim wasn t valid, but we kept his policy in force. We don t like having to decline claims nor do we want to do so. We recommend that you use our Critical Illness Guide which provides the full definitions of the critical illnesses we cover. If your customer is unsure about which medical or lifestyle information to tell us about, our Tele-underwriters can help ensure they are comfortable and understand what information is important to disclose. Tele-underwriting passes the responsibility for gathering the right information to us. Above all, our objective is to treat all customers fairly, deliver on our promises as quickly and efficiently as we can, and give people the compassion and respect they deserve.

6 We hope you find this brochure useful. If you want to order more please contact your AXA Protection Account Manager or call our Sales Team on (option 2). The AXA Protection Account allows the customer to hold a number of protection covers in one place. Covers have no cash value. PRSAC The address for written communication is AXA, PO BOX 181, Bristol BS99 5SN. The telephone number of AXA is AXA is a worldwide insurance group. In the UK, one of the AXA companies is AXA Sun Life Services Plc, which distributes and administers financial products and services. AXA Sun Life Services plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a company limited by shares, registered in England No , registered office: 5 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1AD. As part of our commitment to quality service, telephone calls may be recorded.