“We aim to work collaboratively with our group income protection clients, providing our deep multi-disciplinary expertise, to support them in their journey to redesigning their workplace with ‘good work is beneficial for health’ goals in mind,” Sallows says.
“In other words, especially for SMEs, we can provide the tools and resources to help them prevent potential illness due to work-related factors. And also support them with a much more comprehensive vocational rehabilitation strategy using our partners and in-house resource.
“All of this is far less likely with individual income protection customers, due to the nature of the product,” she adds.
In other words, with group income protection, there is an extra layer – the employer – and that extra layer has a vested interest (whether risk or engagement-based, or both) in intervening, in terms of signposting to wellbeing support and/or referring for early intervention services.
With individual income protection, all of that rests on the insured person being aware such services exist — if indeed they do, that is not a given — and then being engaged enough to use them.
L&G seems to buck the trend of the industry, offering the same vocational rehabilitation support for its retail customers as it does for its group customers. More on this from an independent source shortly.
Individual protection is bought by consumers. This makes it much more customisable to the needs of individuals than group protection. Harper explains: “The product, benefits and any supporting services are the individual’s. They own them. Type of cover, level of cover and options can be wrapped around the individual, and their family, and can flex as their life changes.”
The decision to purchase is often triggered by a life event, such as buying a house, having a family and changing jobs. For that reason, the decision-making process is usually quicker for individual protection, often at the same time as completing a mortgage application, Ellis says.
Decisions to buy group protection can take much longer, up to three to five years in some cases, with many business functions involved: procurement, wellbeing leads, risk management, as well as HR.
Deferred periods are also different on individual and group income protection, with shorter periods on individual — usually around four or eight weeks. This is to support people who may need access to financial protection earlier, such as the self-employed.
Group protection deferred periods are usually longer, starting around 13 weeks, and can be tailored to align with the employer’s HR policies. The deferred period is the amount of time before the insurer starts paying benefit to the individual claimant or employer. It starts on the day the illness or injury begins and benefits are paid monthly in arrears.
