Group income protection

Introduction

Of the 20 million employees eligible for group income protection, only around one in 10 have any such cover*. In total, sickness absence costs UK companies £12.2 billion a year, with the average cost of absence now standing at £601 per employee**.

And an estimated 30% of reported absences are because of social or personal problems, not medical conditions***. We can still provide valuable help in these cases.

*Source: UK Government Small Business Services, 2004.
**Source: CIPD Annual Survey Report 2005.
***Source: CBI Absence Survey 2005.

What is group income protection?

Group income protection pays you a proportion of an employee’s salary if they're unable to work for a prolonged period because of illness or injury. It helps protect your company’s profitability, avoiding the effects absence can have on productivity and operating efficiency.

Flexible approach

Our people-based approach means we handle every case individually and in a flexible way.

Active rehabilitation and return to work programmes are an integral part of our claims management process. It's designed to help employees as individuals regain their health and return to work, wherever possible, while also covering the cost to you of long-term sickness absence.

We believe that when an employee is ill or injured, their recovery is the outcome that everyone wants. So we want to do everything we can to let them get on with their life as quickly as possible.

Independent specialists

We've built up a supportive network of quality independent specialists who provide expert advice and care to speed up the recovery process and, where possible, work with the employee to help them return to work. Because they're independent you can be confident that they’re working in your best interest. We’ll arrange:

• a nurse visit for any employee who’s been absent for over four weeks
• any additional medical information, for example a GP’s report
• rehabilitation and return-to-work programmes, if appropriate, making use of independent specialists such as cognitive behavioural therapists, nurses or physiotherapists