Advisers and insurers have been urged to boost awareness about strokes as figures showed a rising number of working-age people suffering them.
Stroke Association analysis of hospital admission data found 6,221 men aged between 40 and 54 suffered a stroke in 2014, up from 4,260 in 2000.
Jon Barrick, chief executive of the charity, said: “This comes at a huge cost, not only to the individual, but also to their families and to health and social care services.”
Mark Holweger, managing director, intermediated for Legal & General, said that the company had paid approximately £9.75m in stroke-related critical illness cover claims in 2014.
He said stroke had been the third highest definition paid by the company for three years running.
Mr Holweger added: “We have seen increased awareness of the dangers of strokes and their warning signs following a number of successful campaigns in recent years. However the fact that stroke accounts for our third most common claim for the third year in a row proves there is still much work to be done.”
Adviser view
Tom Conner, director at East Sussex-based Drewberry Insurance, said: “Not only does more need to be done to educate the public on how to reduce the risk of stroke or heart disease but also on how to gain the most appropriate financial protection, whether that be via critical illness cover, income protection or ideally both.”
