Growing awareness created by the Keep Britain Working review now means employers increasingly see the potential of group income protection (GIP) to not just pay sickness benefits but as an important early intervention tool.
This is according to Kevin O’Neill, consulting lead – health and protection at Howden Employee Benefits, who spoke to Health & Protection for our September analysis on why raising awareness about GIP matters.
Increased awareness
O’Neill told Health & Protection: “The Mayfield review has definitely raised awareness of the need to provide better support to keep people in work.
“Increasing long-term sickness and mental health absences as well as losing experienced employees appear to be the drivers for growing demand for group income protection appears cover. That being said, continued growth is not likely to come directly from the output of the Mayfield review but it does reinforce the fact that modern GIP cover can provide wider support to keep people in work rather than attempting to bring someone back after a long absence.”
Though O’Neill noted that despite this growth, future development of the market will need to be centred around improving employer awareness and understanding of the wealth of preventative and rehabilitation services embedded within GIP policies rather than focusing solely on the insured benefit itself.
“This includes early intervention support, rehabilitation services, occupational health input, mental health support, return-to-work programmes and vocational rehabilitation,” O’Neill continued.
“Insurers, intermediaries and industry bodies, such as Grid, all continue to have a key role to play in this.”
Growing demand from SMEs
O’Neill maintained increasing interest in GIP by SMEs is being driven by a number of factors including rising levels of sickness absence, increasing demand for employee wellbeing support, and ongoing recruitment and retention challenges.
“Employers increasingly understand that GIP is not there just to pay a sickness benefit but also for the early intervention services it offers, such as mental health support, virtual GP access and rehabilitation assistance,” he continued.
“Although demand is increasing, affordability remains a key factor, with many SMEs opting for limited-term benefits in an attempt to balance employee protection with cost management.
“Overall, GIP is increasingly being viewed as a strategic tool for supporting workforce wellbeing reducing absence, and enhancing employee value propositions.”
