Employee benefits (EB) have proved a popular talking point in recent years. Providers have been fall...
Employee benefits (EB) have proved a popular talking point in recent years. Providers have been falling over themselves for a seat at the table when it comes to thrashing out how to best address this apparently thriving market.
They say the opportunities for advisers are endless, particularly in light of increased employer legislation to protect the health and safety of employees.
But despite the so-called chance to grab a piece of the EB pie, the majority of group sales remain low. Our EB focus on pages 18-25 this month, shows that sales of group income protection (IP) plans in particular are falling for the first time ever, while group private medical insurance (PMI) continues to coast along on fairly static sales.
So what is the market doing wrong? It seems the barrier to success is communication. While providers are quick to promote the benefits of group schemes as a way to manage absence and ill health in the work place, translating this to employers is difficult. To them, PMI is not a priority as the NHS exists to cater to the medical needs of their staff. Exactly how IP manages staff absence is also unclear. Indeed, the 'added value' services can help monitor behavioural or health problems, but many employers are in the mindset that the only real benefit is to the employee receiving the monthly income.
Still, it is not all doom and gloom. The corporate cash plan market seems to be thriving but there is still perhaps a degree of snobbery about the value of the product and certainly, an element of confusion about how advisers can benefit from the sector. Nonetheless, advisers would do well to examine all areas of the supposedly lucrative EB market, but things must be made crystal clear to all concerned if it is to truly flourish.
Angela Faherty, editor
