Aviva is seeing group risk and private medical insurance (PMI) schemes being brought together as clients and advisers are seeking to get greater value from their premiums.
The insurer told Health & Protection that de-risking was a growing trend as the soaring inflation and the cost of living started to impact employer benefits budgets.
Jason Ellis, sales director, group protection at Aviva revealed that demand for group protection had held up but it seen early signs of clients and advisers seeking to maximise the return on premium spend for their benefits.
“An example of this, is where advisers have been asking Aviva to bring together healthcare (PMI) and group income protection, where they believe there are clear synergies,” Ellis said.
“We have been running a small test group which has demonstrated an increased value for corporate clients by de-risking and included an enhanced customer journey for employees.
“There continues to be a demand from our clients and advisers to lead with clinical conditions while recognising the biopsychosocial model and return to work expertise that our teams have.
“From this demand, we introduced support pathways for specific conditions including mental health, long Covid and neurodiversity. We anticipate seeing continued growth and development of these pathways,” he added.
The insurer also noted that it expects wellbeing will continue to be the biggest trend for group risk for the remainder of this year and beyond.
Ellis said Aviva was exploring how best to develop its wellbeing coverage.
“We have received positive adviser and client feedback to Digicare+ Workplace and as a result, we are thinking about how we extend this service,” he added.