UK 
United States
As a ‘business to business’ market, Group Risk insurers, as a generalisation, tend to focus on employer, rather than employee, communications. Whilst there are personal interactions, it is limited to areas such as a limited amount of medical underwriting or claims and so there is little visibility in consumer media to promote the existence of these benefits or the support services that the insurers provide. This means that employers need to communicate to employees proactively to promote the positive messages and to maximise the benefits spend which in turn will enhance their ability to retain and gain the best talent.
Paul Avis, Group Marketing Director at Canada Life, explained the issue to us in more detail. “We have a raft of communications materials talking about not only the financial benefits, but sometimes viewed as more importantly, the support services that we offer.
“The merits of support services have traditionally been seen as complementary to the financial benefits for the organisation, but the value of being able to use many of them at no cost, on a daily basis without having to be a claimant is raising the importance of these to employer customers. Any insurer can pay a cheque, but in the Group market it is what else is provided alongside paying claims that becoming the true determinant of value for customers.”
Group Income Protection (GIP) policies are leading the way with support service provision and the flagship of all insurers are their early intervention services (EIS). With Canada Life, for example, EIS - which is available from day one of an absence, is triggered by a call to one of its nurses. And, in effect provides free vocational rehabilitation, essential when managing complex absences such as stress and mental health. The results of this proactive intervention are impressive and employees who engage with EIS have an average absence duration of seven weeks; highlighting an immediate return on investment by reducing occupational and Statutory Sick Pay.
