While accident and health insurance is a fairly common benefit for staff, one type of coverage that may be overlooked is income protection.
This does exactly what it says on the tin, paying benefits to the insured if they are ill or injured and unable to bring in their regular income, said Chris Kassis of Windsor Income Protection.
While some people arrange this individually, this type of coverage should be offered more and more by employers, he added.
“In the corporate space, the offer for income protection as an employee benefit should have greater penetration and this needs to be addressed by both employers and the insurance market.”
The return on investment to those offering this additional coverage makes a lot of sense, Kassis said.
“In simple terms, outlaying a small cost in employee benefits like income protection, compared to the costs of rehiring, training and developing new employees, speaks for itself.”
For employers considering whether it is worthwhile to add this to their general benefits package, there is one critical question to ask: how long could you survive on your savings if your income was reduced to zero?
“It’s an important question and it’s probably asked by fewer people than it should be,” he said. “There are no doubt psychological barriers to answering this question as most people believe that nothing will happen to them in the workplace or they fail to confront their fears.”
For HR professionals and benefits specialists seeking the best income protection products out there, Kassis said to look for the following key indicators:
- Product innovation
- Benefit capability
- Ease of claims process
He also urged employers to look into this type of coverage as part of the general staff benefits offered.
“The area of employee/member engagement and employee/member benefits again is a space in which the employers can definitely improve on to provide further benefits not just limited to income protection,” he said.
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