Benefits shouldn't be a case of 'risky business'

3. Group Income Protection

“Group Income Protection replaces a proportion of an employee’s income, and is paid monthly to the employer if an employee is unable to work due to long-term sickness or injury. There is a waiting, or ‘deferred’ period before a claim is payable, which is often 26 or 28 weeks. Employer and employee pension and National Insurance contributions can be insured, thereby putting the employee in a ‘cost neutral’ position once in claim. Once in payment, benefits can be level or increase automatically every year in a variety of ways.

Group Income Protection benefits can be provided in many different forms, such as a percentage of the employee’s gross pay. The maximum is normally 75% of an employee’s salary, to which pension and NI contributions can then be added. The product is backed by vocational rehabilitation services and a raft of additional, support services at no additional cost to the employer. These include Employee Assistance Programmes, Second Medical Opinion Services, Health Risk Assessment portals and others.

4. Group Critical Illness