Mental health was officially the most common claim for Zurich in 2020, with 27 per cent of the insurer’s UK policyholders claiming for this, compared to 13 per cent in 2019. That’s around £1.7 million worth of payments to customers (of individual policies) who claimed on their policies. 

Further to that, 19 per cent of individual policyholders accessed Zurich Support Services, with the majority of these (82 per cent) seeking clinical support for conditions including depression, stress and anxiety.  

And in the group income protection realm, 28 per cent of claims in 2020 were for mental illness, Zurich says, making it the second most common reason for people seeking support, after cancer.  

“We know around one in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives which means it is vital that products such as life and income protection insurance are available to as many people as possible,” commented Nicky Bray, Zurich’s Chief Underwriter for its life business.  

Bray added that Zurich has therefore been working closely with the ABI on the mental health standards for the industry, to make cover more accessible to those who need it. In September 2020, ABI launched standards to help support customers applying for health, travel or protection insurance. 

Employers should, of course, be prioritising partnerships with employee assistance providers that offer comprehensive mental health services, especially as Zurich notes that data from UK health and safety at work regulating organisation HSE estimates that mental illness accounts for the majority (around 17.9 million) of lost working days and is estimated to cost the economy around £105.2 billion each year.