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Guardian Insurance pays out nearly £32 million in 2025 – but what is the most interesting aspect of the figures?

ended 21. September 2026

Guardian paid a record of almost £31.7 million to customers and their families in 2025, 48% higher than in 2024, it has revealed in new figures.

In total, Guardian paid 297 life, terminal illness and critical illness claims during 2025, paying 91% of all claims received. 

The insurer paid 100% of children’s critical illness claims, alongside 92% of terminal illness claims, 90% of adult critical illness claims and 87% of life claims.

One expert in insurance on Newspage says that for life cover especially, the claims payout ratio is normally close to 100%, which is obviously extremely high. 

Most providers reach 98% or 99%. However, Guardian’s latest 2025 statistics showed that it paid 87% of life cover claims, which is incredibly low.

Interestingly, the figure for terminal illness is 92%, whereas most other providers are around 55% to 60% for terminal illness. These are incredibly unusual statistics.

  • What is most interesting about the figures?
  • Why are Guardian's life cover claims so low?
  • Why are its terminal illness figures so high?

Responses asap.

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Oliver JordanVerified
Director at Check Financial
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Because Guardian are a relatively new player in the market, the number of claims is quite small compared to some of the "Big boys" - The actual physical numbers.
This means a blip in non-disclosure, can have a marked impact on the percentage of claims paid.
No insurer wants to decline claims (Contrary to popular believe) however, when you look at some of the examples Guardian have quoted, you can see why the claims were not paid. Some of them, self-evidently, were clients trying to "Pull a fast one" - Potentially more clients applied with them due to Guardian recording 100% claim-to-pay ratio for the previous years.
Regarding the terminal illness benefit, for all other providers, there is a 12 month life expectancy requirement. When you factor in that most of these cases are Cancer related and known difficulties with Doctor's confirming there is 12 month less to live, it is not surprising that Guardian's market leading wording, pays out a much higher percentage.
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Dariusz KarpowiczVerified
Director at Albion Financial Advice
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87% on life claims is the number that stops you. Most insurers sit at 98% or 99%, so that gap deserves a proper explanation rather than a press release. Same with terminal illness at 92% when the market typically manages 55% to 60%.

My hunch is sample size. With 297 claims in total, a handful of cases swing the percentages wildly, and Guardian is still a young book. Worth watching, though, and worth factoring into protection advice. It would help everyone if they simply talked through the figures and the reasons behind each declined claim.
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Matt CoulsonVerified
Founder at Heron Financial
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For me the most interesting thing sits behind the percentages. Guardian came into a settled market and pushed the bar up on critical illness cover, and they've kept that focus on product quality and genuine innovation ever since. You can see it in the figures, with children's critical illness at 100% and terminal illness well above the usual industry range. I'd be wary of reading too much into the life cover line on its own. With 297 claims in a single year the percentages move on very few cases, and this is a newer insurer with a growing book, so one year tells you far less than the direction of travel. Protection is a big part of what we do, and the consistent truth across the market is that these policies pay out the large majority of the time. Where a claim isn't paid, it's usually down to something not disclosed properly at outset. That's the real lesson for anyone buying a home: the cover people are quickest to skip does its job when it matters, if it's set up accurately.