TAL says it paid $4.2 billion in claims benefits to more than 50,000 policyholders and their families in the year to March.

More than seven in 10 of the claims involved customers living with or recovering from injury or illness.

The life insurer’s chief claims officer, Georgina Croft, says more important than the numbers is the real-life impact each claim represents.

“Supporting our customers and their families when they’re going through the most difficult times of their lives is the most important thing we do at TAL,” she said.

“We’re committed to ensuring every person feels confident in our claims process by providing the financial, emotional and physical support they need.”

TAL says it is investing in strengthening the skills of front-line staff, and in the past year its claims team has completed more than 22,000 hours of customer support training.

“Supporting our customers starts with providing our claims consultants with the tools and training they need to be there for each customer when they need us most,” Ms Croft said. She says technology is equally important. “Digitising parts of the claims process is also key to a more seamless claims experience for TAL customers, our superannuation fund partners and their members.”