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While most insurers pay out the vast majority of claims, insurers that revealed their claims record typically reported paying out around 90 per cent of critical illness in 2007, it is the tales of those who do not get cash when they need it that put some off protection.

But in the last few years insurers have worked hard to ensure advisers and consumers are more aware of what needs to be revealed up front to a protection provider for potential future claims to be paid.

This work is continuing and details of it should be shared with consumers who may be reluctant to take out a policy, according to insurers.

The industry is making sure those who are wholly honest do not pay for those who neglected to reveal the full picture about their health while ensuring absent mindedness does not cost your client's dearly when they need cash the most, according to the Association of British Insurers.

In January, the ABI announced insurance companies would pay more claims for critical illness, income protection and life insurance where medical information has not been disclosed, unless the customer deliberately withheld it.

The association claimed this new commitment would lead to a further fall in the number of declined claims.

Where relevant information has not been provided, the ABI said insurers would pay customers a fair sum reflecting risk and premiums paid.

In a small number of exceptional cases, the association said premiums would be refunded if the insurer would not have taken on the policy if they had known the full facts.

The commitment from the ABI followed other improvements in policy application forms and clarity of communication to customers.

Chris McFarlane, head of protection for LV=, said no insurer wanted to avoid paying claims but the industry could also not condone customer recklessness or fraud, particularly as this adversely impacted the prices and benefits on offer to more "honest" customers.

Providers, advisers and the rest of the industry all have a responsibility to ensure customers understand what is expected of them and help restore trust in the industry, he said.

In March, Mr McFarlane said LV= launched a straight through processing system that included an express underwriting option.

An extra 10 per cent commission was made available for advisers using the express route to apply for an LV= flexible protection plan.

Mr McFarlane said the insurer had adopted this approach, which involves the adviser filling in a few basic details about the client online, to reduce the risk of non-disclosure.

After submitting the form UK-based tele-interviewers then call the adviser's client at a time convenient to them and capture the medical, health and lifestyle details for the application.

Mr McFarlane said: "This creates an environment that enables decisions to be given more quickly as well as ensuring that appropriate risk management information is obtained accurately.

"Once we have captured these details, we will send a copy of the answers provided back to the client to review and confirm / amend as necessary.

"We believe this is important as the client can then check that they have answered the questions honestly and have not omitted any important details."

The express route not only saves advisers time but Mr McFarlane said it also protected them from potential claims against their business relating to non-disclosure.

He said: "In line with other leading providers, we have seen that clients using the express route have fewer issues with non disclosure and so tele-interviewing helps us ensure that clients disclose fully and can therefore be confident that a valid claim will be paid."

Iain Mallon, director of protection marketing at Axa, agreed with Mr McFarlane that tele-underwriting was a vital component in making sure consumers and advisers were not in for a shock when it came to making a claim.

He said: "When Axa launched in to the protection market, we launched with a full tele-underwriting proposition.

"We have found tele-underwriting to be the most effective way of reducing non-disclosure with, in our experience, only 1.23 per cent of applications through this route non-disclosing, compared with 3.48 per cent for electronic applications and 5.78 per cent for paper applications."

However, Mr Mallon said work to ensure mistakes were not made on application forms would continue.

It was vital to work on new ways to assess people's medical conditions, he said.

Mr Mallon said: "We continue to find more straightforward ways of analysing people's health to simplify the underwriting process, for example, using a range of less invasive ways of health screening for customers."