Return to work rehab: Who offers it and how?

For many, the recent UK government consultation paper regarding proposed changes to statutory sick pay has been a long time coming and very welcome. Among the changes being proposed, the consultation explores different mechanisms that could be put in place to help employees back into the workplace after a prolonged period of absence due to sickness. Whilst this has been a key area of provision in the group market, the individual market is less known for the work it does in this area.  So, what do individual plans offer?

The support a client will need to return to work after a sustained absence will clearly vary depending on the reason and symptoms of their ill health or injury. As such the range of services offered by insurers are wide and cater for a multitude of needs.

Although not exhaustive the main services available include:

• Rehabilitation which provide a range of therapies such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy or other complimentary therapies as required by the client to help them get back on their feet.
• Counselling to help consumers with any emotional or mental problems.
• Career support where insurers will provide services to clients to help them find new roles, create CVs and prepare for interviews.
• Return to work support to aid both the client and their employer to ensure the return to work is successful based on the clients' circumstances.

The table below highlights which insurers offer these services.

	Aegon	AIG	Aviva	Holloway Friendly	Legal & General	LV=	Royal London	The Exeter	Vitality	Zurich
Rehabilitation	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Counselling	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Career Support	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Return to work support	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y

 

For many illnesses and injuries, early access to rehabilitation support can help facilitate not only a faster return to work but also ensure that the client remains in work by reducing the risk of ongoing illness. As such those that offer such services at any point in the contract term can help reduce the risk of the condition progressing to the point where the client requires to make a claim.

AIG, LV=, Royal London and Zurich offer rehab at any point in the contract regardless of whether a claim has been made. Importantly no insurer is able to offer such services if they are not aware of health issues. As such, for many the point at which rehabilitation can be offered will be when the client informs the insurer of a potential claim. This highlights the need for advisers to carry out regular reviews with clients not only on whether the plans they hold are still suitable but also to keep abreast of their health. Insurers should also be doing more to highlight such services to the end-client throughout the term of the plan and not just at point of inception.

Mental illness is a topic that has been much documented within COVER in recent times as a big cause not only for time of work but as a contributor to other illnesses. Like with rehabilitation, the earlier that a client is willing to seek support, the less likely it is that their illness will progress to a stage where they need to take time off work and for those that do need to take time away, such support services could help them back on their feet quicker.

It is clear that each client suffering from mental health issues will have different needs. As such those that do seek support will have different comfort levels in how this is obtained. For some that may mean face-to-face consultations, whilst others may be less comfortable with this and prefer the relative anonymity of telephone sessions. Across the industry many insurers offer a wide range of methods for obtaining support ranging from face-to-face, over the telephone, via video calling or even email.

Whilst both rehabilitation and counselling services can help reduce the amount of time a client is unable to work for, career support and return to work support are both designed make the actual process of getting back into work as easy as possible.

For those unlucky enough to suffer from a condition that renders them unable to return to their previous occupation or role, support to find an alternative line of work or employer may be needed. In such scenarios a client may want to seek professional help to help them understand what roles their skill set lends itself to or even with just preparing a CV and for interviews. Across the market, all insurers that offer career support services provide access to a CV writing service whilst some others will also provide clients with help researching the market and preparing for interviews.

The actual process of returning to work after a period of absence can be a daunting one. For some clients the reason for their incapacity may have been physical and as such there may be certain environmental issues the employer may need to take into account to support them. For those that have been incapacitated for a long period of time, they may be concerned with how their employer will react when they approach them about returning to work.

Those that offer support in the client's return to work can help ease such concerns and carry out some vital work in ensuring that whole process is as smooth and stress-free as possible. Engagement with the employer is key to the process when agreeing a specific date for the return to work, in what capacity that return to work will be and also whether the employer may need to make allowances for physical or mental issues the client still faces. Having a third party support this process and carry out the negotiations between the employer and employee can be vital in not only reducing stress for the employee but also supporting the employer.

Income protection policies in today's market offer far more than financial resilience when a client is incapacitated. For many the additional services highlighted in this article can be more important than the income and every client we can help become financially independent after a period of poor health is a real success story. The industry has become far better at highlighting the number of claims they pay and even in produce claims stories. I would love to see far more good news claims stories about clients being supported back to work and the excellent work the industry does in this area.

Adam Higgs is head of research at Protection Guru

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