Table of Contents
Editor’s note: First published 2016 | Refreshed March 2026 with updated insurer claims data and real Irish payout examples.
10-second summary: Irish life insurers pay around 98–99% of claims every year (Irish Life paid 98.7% of death claims in 2025). The small number that don’t usually come down to non-disclosure, missed payments or policy conditions, not insurers trying to wriggle out of paying.
You’ve probably heard the stories.
Claims refused.
Delays.
Payouts dragging on for months.
And because insurers don’t exactly explain things in plain English, it’s easy to assume they’ll find a way not to pay.
In reality, that’s more typical of car and house insurance than life insurance.
Across Aviva, Zurich, Irish Life, Royal London and New Ireland, claims are paid the vast majority of the time. Not perfectly, but far more often than people expect.
And that’s consistent across the board.
Different insurers, same outcome.
Each insurer publishes their claims data every year. When you look at it side by side, the pattern is very clear.
Claims aren’t unusual events and payouts aren’t rare – they happen every day.
I see it constantly with families receiving lump sums that clear mortgages, pay off debts and give them a bit of breathing space when things have gone badly wrong.
Zurich paid over €122 million in life and serious illness claims last year with more than 800 families received a payout (the average payout was €117,000, and the largest claim was over €1.4 million)
That works out at roughly 15 families every week receiving a life insurance payout from Zurich alone.
Irish Life’s figures tell the same story:
€404 million paid across just under 8,000 claims, with €7.7 million going out every week.
Their death claim payout rate was 98.7%.
New Ireland, Aviva and Royal London all show similar patterns year after year so it’s not just one company paying claims. It’s how the system works.
Cancer is the biggest cause, making up roughly a third of claims and after that you’re looking at heart-related conditions and respiratory illnesses. Stroke and accidents are there as well, just less common.
So we’re not talking about rare conditions. It’s the kind of stuff that affects ordinary people every day.
There’s another piece most people don’t realise.
Nearly two out of three opf Irish Life’s claims weren’t for death.
They were for living benefits like serious illness payouts or income protection when someone can’t work.
So this isn’t just about what happens when you die.
Quite often, the policy pays while you’re still here.
A client in their 30s took out cover and was diagnosed with late-stage cancer two years later. The policy paid a serious illness lump sum first, then the life cover shortly after. The plan wasn’t even that old.
Another client claimed for cancer, recovered for a period, then sadly passed away later that year. The same policy paid twice.
I’ve seen clients get €300,000 paid out within a few weeks of making a claim.
This is where things tend to get misunderstood.
It’s not insurers sitting around looking for ways not to pay. It’s usually something much more straightforward than that.
Someone didn’t fully disclose their medical history, or they ticked non-smoker when they weren’t, or the policy had lapsed because payments stopped.
Sometimes it comes down to definitions.
A condition doesn’t meet the exact wording in the policy for a valid claim. That shows up more with serious illness cover.
And every now and then, it’s fraud, which is rare enough but does happen.
But most of the time, it goes back to how the policy was set up in the first place.
When you apply for life insurance, you’re not just getting a price, you’re setting up a policy correctly to make sure there are no issues when you claim.
If, when you make a claim, something doesn’t line up with what was originally disclosed, that’s when issues can arise.
That’s why how and which insurer you apply is so important..
One case that always sticks with me involved a client who died by suicide.
There was a history of mild depression that he hadn’t disclosed so I was anxious that the insurer would refuse the claim.
It’s a horrible situation to be in, trying to explain to a partner that the insurer won’t payout because of non-disclosure on the application form. That’s why we are so vigilant about completing application forms correctly.
Thankfully, the insurer reviewed the full context and paid the claim anyway because the history of depression wouldn’t have changed the original terms.
The mortgage was cleared within weeks.
That’s the difference between a claim getting stuck and a claim going through.
In most cases, it’s fairly straightforward.
The insurer is contacted, documents are gathered, medical details are confirmed, and the payout is made.
Simple claims can be paid within days.
More complex ones can take longer, usually because information needs to be collected, not because anyone is trying to avoid paying.
Sometimes a claim is delayed.
A GP report doesn’t match the disclosure, a detail is missing or the condition doesn’t mee the exact definition for a payout.
That’s where having someone in your corner helps.
We deal with claims teams all the time, so we can explain the context rather than leaving it as a black-and-white decision.
If a claim is refused, there’s an appeals process through the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman.
And it’s worth saying, these insurers are heavily regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
They can’t just decide not to pay claims because there are rules they have to follow.
Answer the questions on the application form honestly.
Make sure what you say lines up with your GP records.
Keep your premiums up to date.
It sounds basic, but most issues come back to one of those three things.
Life insurance is one of those things you never get to see working yourself.
You’re relying on it being there later, at a time when everything else has gone wrong.
And it is.
I don’t see claims being refused because insurers are awkward. I see them refused because the application wasn’t done properly.
If you’re not sure what needs to be disclosed, or you want a second pair of eyes before applying, fill out this short questionnaire.
We’ll help you get it right first time, because once a decision is made, it follows you.
Written by Nick McGowan, QFA RPA APA
Nick is a qualified financial advisor and founder of Lion.ie, a multi-agency Irish life insurance and income protection brokerage based in Tullamore.
He’s been helping people secure fair, transparent cover for over 15 years and was named Protection Broker of the Year 2022.
If you’d like straight answers without the sales pitch, learn more about Nick here.
As Ireland's leading life insurance broker, we specialise in comparing the rates and policies from the top five Irish life insurance providers and offering the very best value quotes to suit the individual needs of our clients. Our expertise lies in finding a suitable insurance plan for those with specific needs, be it a particular illness, occupation or claim history, we've got you covered in every sense!
Watch our video
