Aviva is providing an employee assistance programme (EAP) to clients with any of its group protection policies for no additional charge as part of a new arrangement with HealthHero which is replacing Care First.
However, the insurer is reducing employee health checks to once every two years and is removing separate access to the stress and bereavement helplines for uninsured employees.
The EAP will be available from 1 January 2026 to group life, group critical illness and group income protection clients and all of their employees, whether insured or not, after previously being limited to group income protection scheme members.
Employees will have access to a 24/7 emotional and practical support helpline. Where clinically required, an additional planned structured counselling session is available.
Further onward mental health support for mild to moderate symptoms is available for insured members through the services within the Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace app.
The EAP service also includes self-serve access to online resources such as webinars, support articles, videos and wellbeing assessments.
Aviva said as the EAP services are now available to all customers and encapsulate a wide range of mental health support, there will no longer be separate access to the stress and bereavement helplines as this was a duplicate support.
However, stress and bereavement support will be accessible to insured employees via Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace.
It added from 29 January 2026 health checks on the Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace app will move from being available annually to once every two years to better align with employee usage of the service.
Jason Ellis, director of group protection distribution at Aviva (pictured), said: “We’re delighted to be able to expand the reach of our new employee assistance programme, offering mental health support to many more UK employees through 24/7 helplines.
“We’re also pleased to be able to continue offering our comprehensive and widely used finger-prick blood health check at no additional cost to clients through the Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace app. This now moves to every two years in line with how employees use the detection service to monitor their wellbeing.
“These changes are part of our wider ambition and future plans to streamline and connect our wellbeing services, and to deliver valued and impactful added value benefits to employers and their employees.”
Brandon Collins, commercial director at HealthHero, added the new partnership with Aviva marked a significant step forward in offering service innovations to their corporate customers.
“We have a shared commitment to simplifying healthcare and improving lives and by combining Aviva’s trusted brand with HealthHero’s clinical excellence, the collaboration aims to deliver seamless, innovative healthcare experiences for corporate customers and their employees across the UK.”
