The UK’s workforce mental health challenge is growing, but there is only so much insurers can do to tackle the problem.
This is according to John Hyde, chief marketing officer at Unum UK, who was participating in a panel session at an event held at the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) London offices yesterday.
Hyde told delegates that workforce mental health challenges it saw as a business are growing.
“In our group income protection claims space, last year 50% of our claims were mental health related,” Hyde explained.
“So we see a real value in trying to help customers from an early intervention perspective to use data to signpost counselling services that are available to customers to hopefully help mild cases of mental health to stop turning into something more severe.
“Last year, that grew from 20,000 consultations the year before to about 40,000 consultations in the last 12 months. So it’s a big jump in the way customers are interacting with those services.”
Hyde added that the firm was also analysing historical data to produce tailored rehab services.
“We’re looking at helping to get people back to work wherever possible,” he said. “We see an over 90% success rate in helping people get back to work. So the data is telling us a positive story.
“And I think it’s fair to say that data and the associated interventions can, and are, making a difference.”
But Hyde warned that with insurers only currently covering around half the working population, that there is only make so much of a difference the sector can make.
“Certainly in the SME space insurer coverage is less prevalent than in larger employers,” he continued.
“Everything we can do as an industry to provide these services to more people in a more effective way will make a big difference into eating into that 2.83 million inactive workforce.
“But it certainly isn’t something that’s going to be solved overnight.
“It’s definitely a long term challenge.”