The UK group risk industry paid out a record £2.49 billion in claims in 2023, representing an increase of £278.4 million from 2022, according to data from industry body Group Risk Development (Grid).
Industry payments for benefits including employer-funded life assurance, income protection and critical illness benefits were equal to £6.82 million a day in 2023, the body said.
The data also showed that 50.5 percent of employees who took prolonged sick leave starting in 2023 had returned to work by the end of the year following group risk support.
Cancer was found to be the main cause of claims across all group risk products.
Mental ill-health and MSK
Group risk support can include early interventions such as fast-track access to counselling and physiotherapy or access to serious illness specialists, vocational rehabilitation and mediation.
A breakdown of the figures showed that of the 6,299 employees who took sick leave starting in 2023 and returned to work by the end of the year, 4,691 were able to go back to work before a claim was made following interventions provided by the insurer.
A further 1,608 employees went on to claim a group income protection (GIP) benefit during 2023 and returned to work by the end of the year.
Grid found that 7,305 interventions were made within six months of someone’s first absence by group risk insurers during 2023. Of these, 47 percent received help to overcome mental illness and 10 percent accessed support to deal with a musculoskeletal condition.
The data showed that more than 8,000 people in total were helped by interventions from group risk insurers last year.
In addition, 885 employees who became new GIP claimants during 2022 had returned to work by the end of 2023.
‘Daily value’
Grid said that support embedded in group risk products, such as access to virtual GPs, means all employees can benefit whether a claim is made or not.
Data on use rates for embedded support revealed employees accessed them more than 440,000 times in 2023. This confirms that employees are increasingly using it and getting value from their employer’s purchase on a daily basis, Grid said.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Grid, said: “The record numbers of long-term sick is an issue for the UK, and these figures show how group risk contributes to a solution. Employers who offer group risk benefits to their workforce have real and practical help in keeping their employees in work and helping those who are absent to return.
“Recent figures from Swiss Re’s Group Watch show that group risk benefits are increasing in popularity, and our results show why: the more employers who offer group risk, the more help UK plc has to tackle this issue.”
Rise in benefits paid
Grid’s industry data showed that the benefits paid for group life assurance policies were £1.69 billion in 2023, up £160.9 million from 2022; GIP policies paid a total of £633.6 million in 2023, representing an increase of £85.7 million from 2022; and group critical illness policies paid out benefits of £160.3 million in 2023, which was an increase of £31.8 million from 2022.
Average new claim amounts were £137,448 for group life; £27,206 a year for GIP; and £77,743 for group critical illness. Grid said this shows that these benefits are not perks for the higher paid but offer a vital financial lifeline to people of every salary, age and position.
Moxham added that it was “no secret that financial resilience in the UK is poor”, saying that the death, serious illness or long-term incapacity of a breadwinner can have a devastating effect on a household’s finances.
“In real terms, state provision for the sick and disabled has been becoming harder to get and [has been] dwindling for some time. It’s not enough to live on, and those who have to rely on it are the ones who can least afford to.
“Some employers boost the payments by self-funding, which is expensive. Those employers who make use of group risk benefits have the most affordable way of supporting staff and their families when the worst happens.”
Paula Coffey, director of claims, rehab, and Unum UK customer services, said: “We are pleased to see Grid once again highlighting the importance of group risk protection products and the huge amount of support they have provided to employees to enable them to stay in or return to work. GIP rehabilitation and claims teams contribute a huge amount to the health, happiness and productivity of their clients’ workforces every day.
“At Unum, we have dedicated in-house experts including doctors, psychiatrists, physiotherapists and occupational health professionals providing individualised care and support for our customers. This holistic approach to absence management support has enabled us to achieve a 97 percent return to work success rate despite a 35 percent increase in referrals overall.
“Our own claims experience mirrors the Grid findings, with cancer dominating all group risk product claims. Unum paid almost £110 million in group risk claims for cancer alone in 2023.”
She welcomed Grid’s emphasis on the huge amount of embedded support that group risk offers through value-added services.
“In 2023, Help@hand GPs conducted over 44,500 virtual GP consultations, making it Unum’s most highly utilised value-added service. Wellbeing and preventative services with GIP such as physiotherapy, mental health and fitness and nutrition consultations can help tackle some of the major causes of absence before the illness or injury requires time off from work – delivering value, relieving pressure on the NHS and helping prevent long-term sickness,” Coffey said.
