I have a few clients lately who might all be a good fit for group income protection cover. I am fairly new to the market and wondered how much emphasis I should put on the Employee Assistance Programmes and additional support elements in the products, as opposed to the core protection and price factors?
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Group Risk Development
It might help to think of group income protection as a collection of support services with an element of insurance sitting behind them, just in case it is needed.
For the smaller employer particularly, understanding what comes along with a group IP policy, and when and how to use it, is a vital first step and merits equal consideration along with price and core protection.
The support elements can be very effective in keeping people in work, or helping them back to work.
As an industry, we understand perfectly the need for effective early interventions, and for managing health conditions and absence proactively.
This is why group IP has been re-engineered beyond a pure insurance product to include added value services such as HR support, employee assistance programmes (EAPs), vocational rehabilitation, fast-track access to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and counselling.
With the help of their intermediary, financially astute employers will make full use of these additional services because they can save them money elsewhere, and can be used by the employer and their employees on a daily basis, even if a claim is never made under the policy.
Understanding and implementing what is on offer does take time and effort but is worthwhile on two counts. First, it ensures effective interventions at the optimum time in terms of supporting employees. Second, efficient use of added value services under a group IP policy can release savings to spend elsewhere, often generating the funds to pay for the cover itself.
Roy Mcloughlin, partner, Master Adviser
Group income protection is an incredibly valuable benefit which we estimate only 8% of the population has access to. It is increasingly important due to the seismic shift in state benefits which is occurring at present.
Basically, claiming state benefits is harder than it ever has been before, and the assumption by many that state benefits will look after them is incorrect.
