GPRs no longer ‘gold standard’ as Aviva begins phase-out

Aviva has cut by a third its use of doctor’s reports (GPRs) on protection applications as it seeks to boost efficiency and lower costs.

It now collects GPRs on just 10% of cases compared with 16% a year ago and has increased the number of nurse tele-interviews six-fold - from 300 a month to 2,000.

Aviva protection director Richard Verdin says applications requiring a GPR can take an average 20 days to process compared with just eight days when the applicant is interviewed by a nurse. He adds each GPR costs the company £89.

"We are encouraging our underwriters to make more decisions without the need for the GPR," he says.

"There was always this feeling a GPR was somehow the gold standard of underwriting, but it isn't. It is about reaching the correct decision for the client in a sensible time and at a sensible cost."

Meanwhile Aviva has announced it paid out more than £140m in critical illness (CI) and life insurance claims during the first half of the year.

The insurer says it paid 744 CI claims - 89% of those received - totalling almost £60m and a further £82m to the families of relatives who had died or been diagnosed with a terminal illness. The average CI payout was £80,429.

The number of claims declined for non-disclosure of medical facts at the policy's outset was 2%, the same as the full year 2008, while the number declined due to the definition not being met was 9%.

"Critical illness and life policies are the type of policy nobody wishes to need to claim against, yet evidence shows these are vitally important policies that can support families and secure their financial well-being during the worst of times," Aviva chief underwriter Michael Whyte says.