Over 6,000 life, critical illness and income protection customers have received payments from protection provider Zurich in 2020, a rise of 23% on the previous year.

The combined claims payments amounted to over £353.7m.

Life insurance payments increased by over 25% to £279.6m. £15m of these claims paid were directly linked to Coronavirus, with the youngest claimant aged 34. Men accounted for two thirds of all Coronavirus-linked life claims.

As a response to the Coronavirus pandemic, Zurich introduced a fast track claims process for life insurance policies last year, including removing the need for grant of probate for claims up to £85,000.

Claims for income protection policies decreased with £6.6m issued in 2020 compared to £7.2m in 2019. Mental illness accounted for over a quarter of income protection claims, followed by 22% for cancers, and 20% for musculoskeletal conditions.

There was a 15% drop in critical illness payments with the protection provider saying this was likely due to customers unable to access treatment and diagnosis.

According to Cancer Research UK, as many as three million people have missed out on cancer screening because of Coronavirus, with nearly a million women missing out on testing for breast cancer alone. The charity estimates there could be 8,600 women who are now living with the disease undetected.