AMP was the slowest insurer to resolve life claims last financial year, but also had the lowest rejection rate, data provided by 10 insurers to the royal commission shows.

The ASX-listed group’s average resolution time was 78 days compared to 10 days for TAL, which recorded the fastest average.

AMP declined only 0.3% of claims while at the other end of the scale Suncorp Life declined 4.4%.

For total and permanent disability policies, the average decision time ranged from less than 40 days for Zurich to 184 days for Westpac.

“Although Westpac and AMP had the longest decision times, they also had the lowest rates of declined TPD claims,” Counsel Assisting Rowena Orr said.

The documents showed that overall TPD claims averaged more than 92 days to resolve compared to 27.5 days for life cover.

The rate of declined claims for income protection was broadly consistent across the 10 insurers, ranging from less than 3% for AMP, Westpac and AIA to about 6.5% in the case of Suncorp Life.

For trauma insurance, which provides cover for a specified illness of injury, the rate of declined claims ranged from about 6-8% for MLC and Zurich to more than 28% for MetLife.

TAL, AIA, MLC, Westpac, MetLife, Zurich, CommInsure, OnePath, Suncorp and AMP were asked to provide data after they were identified as the largest of 15 life insurers examined in a 2016 Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) report on claims handling.

The commission also highlighted ASIC concerns over the limited value to consumers of accidental death cover, a guaranteed acceptance product not requiring a medical underwriting process.