The Protection Distributors Group (PDG) has revealed the list of provider signatories for its Claims Charter for 2025, with 12 providers having met the claims criteria this year.
The providers named as signatories include Cirencester Friendly, Holloway Friendly, Guardian, HSBC Life, Royal London and Shepherds Friendly, with The Exeter, Legal and General, LV=, National Friendly, Beagle Street and Scottish Widows being new additions this year.
After having obtained and assessed information on how insurers support claimants, the PDG will issue these signatories with a 2025 Claims Charter badge to show advisers they have met this year's criteria.
The PDG said that compared to last year, there has been widespread improvement by insurers in terms of the time taken to assess claims.
"Even where charter status has not been achieved, for some firms it's been only by a slight margin. The group is therefore confident that other insurers will achieve charter status before the end of the year," the PDG said.
Last year, the Claims Charter was updated to introduce two new criteria relating to the maximum time taken to assess both claims forms and medical evidence once received, at three and five working days, respectively. This followed advisers raising concerns about the time taken to assess claims.
The PDG told COVER that the primary reason providers have not made the Claims Charter this year is due to the number of days it takes to assess claims and medical details, although the group noted that it was not solely due to this as there were some extenuating circumstances.
Last year, eight insurers achieved charter status, with the Aegon and AIG brands not included in the list this year, as they have now closed to new business.
Among the insurers who have not been listed as signatories in 2025 are Aviva, Zurich, MetLife, Vitality and British Friendly.
Emma Thomson, vice chair of the PDG, said, "To have more insurers meet the criteria this year has been fantastic to see. We have been engaging closely with a number of insurers on the time to assess claims and know how much additional investment and time has been put into this most important aspect of our industry to raise standards."
"All insurers have demonstrated through the survey some wonderful work they're doing to support claimants, and it was really heartening to see a significant improvement in the time to assess claims, even by those who haven't quite managed charter status. Some firms are very close indeed to meeting the criteria, so I'm hopeful we'll see more insurers achieve status before the year is out."
Provider responses
COVER has reached out to the insurers who did not meet the Claims Charter benchmark this year for comment.
Maxine Jannetta, head of claims at British Friendly, said while its operating model differs from the framework outlined in the Claims Charter, this divergence "does not compromise the quality or efficiency" of its claims support.
"We take great pride in the standard of service we deliver to our members," Jannetta said. "Our members continue to benefit from timely decisions and fair outcomes throughout the claims process. We are confident we provide good claim outcomes to our members."
"This is supported by our average time to reach a decision on a claim being less than 10 working days," Jannetta said.
A Zurich spokesperson said, "We support the aims of the PDG Claims Charter to improve customer outcomes by raising basic levels of best practice among insurers."
"While we recognise that we, among other insurers, haven't met all the criteria today, we are working closely with the PDG to consistently make improvements to our service and remain committed to raising standards across the industry."
The Claims Charter was introduced in 2018 to improve outcomes for claimants by raising "basic levels" of best practice undertaken by insurers.
It sets out a number of criteria which insurers must meet to become a signatory, aiming to help the protection industry improve customer outcomes. The PDG said the charter will continue to evolve to meet changing expectations.
