4. Access to a wide breadth of consultancy services.
With GIP, the whole workforce can be covered, not just DB members, which can help HR harmonise employee benefits, while having support on absence management policies and health and wellbeing.
GIP cover can also provide access to a range of added value services for employees, like vocational rehabilitation, Employee Assistance Programmes, and specialist support – important services to pre-empt some conditions that can result in an inability to work, or to support a return to work if conditions arise so that early retirement is not needed.
5. Opportunity for advisers to add value for their customers
Importantly, using GIP to help plug the pension gap can ease concerns of all stakeholders, which is why Unum’s internal data shows an influx in these cases among large employers with 500 employees or more.
Although GIP can be introduced at any time, the rise in pension scheme changes present an opportunity for advisers to introduce this as a valuable solution for their employer customers - at a time when they need to derisk the scheme whilst also protecting pension scheme members.
Ambika Fraser is head of proposition development at Unum UK
