Need to know:
- Value-added services can mitigate claims through early interventions that reduce the duration of sickness absence.
- Check that insurance providers will bundle these benefits as standard or optional extras within their group risk contracts.
- Add-on services can transform group risk from a safety net into a proactive wellbeing strategy.
Employee benefits such as group life cover, income protection, and critical illness cover were once valued mainly for their financial payouts. Today, these products have evolved into holistic wellbeing tools, offering far more than financial reassurance.
Many now include free, value-added services that promote physical, mental, and emotional health, from everyday wellbeing support to early intervention and fast access to care. The result is a win–win: healthier, more resilient employees and stronger, more productive businesses.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson at industry body Grid, says: “Group risk products are so much more than insurance. Each product comes rammed with additional embedded support services. Most will almost certainly include an employee assistance programme (EAP), access to an online GP and a second medical opinion service; many will include nurse-led support.”
Additionally, embedded support can include vocational rehabilitation, expedited counselling and physiotherapy, health apps, HR and line manager support, among other options. Additional offerings can comprise discount vouchers, financial education resources, wellbeing tools, debt consolidation services, or pay advance schemes, all intended to support financial wellbeing.
“Each embedded service provided to employers in this way has been thoroughly evaluated; the insurer has undertaken rigorous due diligence to select services that offer genuine value and demonstrable outcomes,” adds Moxham. ”What comes along with a group risk policy merits as much consideration as the price of the insurance, given that using these services efficiently can save employers substantial costs by eliminating the need for separate stand-alone support.”
Early interventions
These value-added services aim to mitigate claims through proactive early interventions that reduce the duration of sickness absence, as well as by providing integrated health and wellbeing servics that promote reduced absenteeism and encourage positive health behaviours.”
David Williams, head of group risk at Towergate Employee Benefits, says: “Providers offer these benefits because they recognise their value in reducing sickness incidence or duration. Each of the services offered targets either prevention, early intervention or longer-term absence support, so they’re ideal to consider as part of a wider employee benefits package.”
Far from being just optional extras, these services are becoming essential to how employers show genuine care, boost engagement, and retain top talent. High-quality employee benefits signal that staff are truly valued, which can boost morale, loyalty, and retention, especially in competitive job markets. Meanwhile, rehabilitation and early intervention support enable employees to recover and return to work more quickly, helping to reduce long-term absences and associated costs.
Joanne Aitken, employee benefits consultant at Mattioli Woods, says: “Early intervention is particularly effective for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions, two of the most common causes of workplace absence. By promoting awareness of these services, employers can strengthen their duty of care, reduce short and long-term absences, improve employee engagement and wellbeing, and offer support that often extends to family members.”
Maximum returns
Additional benefits maximise an employer’s investment, as group risk premiums are a wasted cost if the benefits are rarely used. Value-adds make those policies tangible and regularly useful, turning a once-a-year policy review into a visible employee benefit.
Employers can demonstrate ongoing value and justify the spend to finance and HR stakeholders. Many insurance providers will bundle these additional services as standard or optional extras within their group risk contracts, integrating them into group risk products and offering them to employers as part of their overall policy, at no additional cost.
Saumya Barber, head of proposition development at Unum UK, says: “Access methods for employees typically include dedicated apps or portals where they can book appointments and access resources when they need them. Some services, like EAPs or bereavement support, offer confidential phone lines or online chat options that employees can use independently. In some cases, employees are guided to services through a referral process, especially for rehabilitation or return-to-work support.”
However, communication of embedded support benefits is vital to maximising their positive impact on staff. Too often, these services go underused simply because employees do not know they exist. Arianne Riddell, chief client officer at Personal Group, explains: “Employers that see the best results are those that integrate benefits promotion into everyday communication using bespoke tools and benefits platforms to share updates, success stories and reminders throughout the year.”
Ultimately, it is a matter of visibility and consistency. When employees can readily access these services and clearly understand their value, benefits are transformed from a peripheral offering into an integral component of the employee experience.
“Group risk is about financial protection after the event, while a health cash plan is about prevention and everyday wellbeing before the event,” adds Riddell. “Together, they form a complete continuum of care; proactive and reactive, every day and long-term. These services transform group risk from a safety net into a proactive wellbeing strategy. They’re not just there for life’s major events, but support employees on a day-to-day basis, which increases engagement and appreciation of the wider benefits package.”
