MALIGNANT CANCER was the main reason for payouts on life assurance policies in 2009, figures from Irish Life reveal.

The company, which paid out €250 million in life assurance claims to 5,000 claimants last year, said that for the fourth consecutive year, cancer was the most common trigger for payouts on specified illness policies and death benefit policies held by both men and women.

In the case of malignant cancer, women accounted for 78 per cent of the total specified illness claims paid.

Irish Life said that this was due to the high level of claims for breast cancer, which accounted for half of the total number of cancer-related claims.

Men had five times more heart-related specified illness claims than women, while men accounted for twice as many death claims as women, according to the breakdown of the life assurer’s claims.

The company said that it had paid out €34.6 million on its specified illness policies in 2009, with an average payment of €61,000 per claim.

Critics of this type of insurance – often known as serious or critical illness insurance – say that the policies are worded tightly in order to minimise the number of payouts.