Some 1,529 employees were helped to return to work with some form of support from an insurer in 2014 before they were away from work long enough to make a claim on group risk policies, according to research by Group Risk Development (Grid).
It also found that £1.26 billion worth of claims was paid out in 2014. Of this, £57 million was paid out through group critical illness policies, group life policies paid out benefits valued at £869 million and group income protection policies paid out annualised benefits of £338 million.
The research also found:
- There was an increase in payouts from both group income protection and group critical illness policies in 2014 of £20 million and £7 million respectively.
- There were 24,570 claims made on group life, critical illness and income protection policies in 2014.
- The main cause of claims across all three products was cancer, with the highest for group critical illness (68%), followed by group life (46%) and group income protection (24%).
- For group life policies, this was followed by heart disease (16%), by heart attacks for group critical illness (10%) and by mental illness for group income protection (23%).
Katharine Moxham (pictured), spokesperson for Grid, said: “The fact that 1,529 people were helped back to work also clearly demonstrates the value that insurers add beyond the pure payment of claims.
“Employers are not obliged to provide any of these benefits, but by doing so they make a major contribution towards protecting employees and their families against the financial consequences of death or prolonged disability.”