Why have group protection?
The success of a company, aside from being well managed is very much down to the people it employs. Where employees are engaged, well rewarded and are healthy this tends to increase productivity and contributes to the overall success of a business.
A company can benefit by including Group Life, Critical Illness and Income Protection packages in their employee benefits package to help attract and retain calibre staff and to protect their business.
In many cases these plans are tax efficient, demonstrate duty of care and are perceived as highly regarded benefits along with Pensions and PMI.
Group Life
Group Life Insurance, also known as Death In Service (DIS) will pay a tax-free lump sum to the employee's partner or dependants in the event of the employee's death whilst they are on the policy. Cover is cost effective and easy to set up, where there is a choice of multiples of salary or a set lump sum.
Group Life policies can be tax efficient, where a company can offset the cost against corporation tax, and there is no taxable benefit to employees either. The costs of setting up a group plan can be as low as 1% of payroll costs, and the group size can start with just 2 members.
In addition to a tax free lump sum, there are usually additional benefits to help families during a difficult time, where extra services such as bereavement counselling and a probate helpline are often included in cover.
Phoenix Health and Protection work with all the leading providers of group risk where we aim to provide a range of competitive options that provide excellent cover for your employees.
Group Critical Illness
Whilst a life policy will help a family during difficult times and provide financial security, if an employee suffers from a serious illness which is likely to impact their ability to work or prevent them from working again, they are likely to need additional financial support.
A Group Critical Illness policy will provide a tax free pay out to an employee if they are diagnosed with a specified illness, disease or condition covered by the policy, and survives for a set period of time.
These policies provide financial support often during a very stressful time and can be used for paying off a mortgage, providing treatment which isn't available on the NHS or making adjustments to your home.
Premiums will depend on the amount and how many conditions are covered, although common conditions which are likely to have significant effects such as cancer and heart conditions are covered as standard.
Very often additional services are included in Group Critical Illness cover such as a valuable second medical opinion service and personal nursing care.
Group Income Protection
When things are going well, we tend to not think about what would happen should we not be able to work, either for a period, or indefinitely. There are likely to be dependants who are reliant on an income coming in, and with Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) being less than £100 per week and only for 28 weeks, very often this won't be enough to cover regular monthly commitments such as mortgage payments.
Group Income Protection will provide a regular replacement income if an employee is unable to work due to long term illness or injury. The benefit becomes available once the member meets the definition of incapacity and has been absent for a fixed period of time, chosen by the employer (the deferment period)
As well as financial support for employees, most insurers will have a holistic approach to wellbeing, providing additional resource with access to vocational rehabilitation services at the first stages of absence to help employees return to work. Other additional services may include fitness coaching, access to nutritionists and mental health support as well as access to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) and virtual GP services.
There are many different parameters which will affect cover and subsequent premiums, where Phoenix Health and Protection can help your business navigate the best options for you, with the peace of mind that your cover will be provided by one of the leading UK insurers.