Group Critical Illness Cover will pay out a tax-free cash lump sum should an employee suffer a serious illness such as cancer, heart attack or stroke whilst working for your business. The lump sum payout is typically between 1 and 5 times an employee’s annual salary and most policies cover around 12 serious conditions as standard.
The payout can help with everyday expenses as well as covering the cost of any lifestyle changes that may be needed due to a serious medical condition.
In addition to the core cover most group policies come with additional support services such as an employee assistance program and best doctors service.
As part of ‘core’ cover, insurers cover around 12 conditions. The most common are:
As well as the cancer cover and other ‘core’ illnesses, you can choose to cover an additional 20-25 or so conditions for an extra premium. Conditions under this umbrella include:
The conditions a policy covers and their definitions will vary from insurer to insurer. While this information will be in your policy documents, it can be in complicated medical jargon. It may therefore be beneficial to ask your adviser for assistance.
Total and Permanent Disability is another additional option.
It covers staff should they be unable to work in their own occupation as a result of becoming totally and permanently disabled. This might be through sickness or injury.
Not got enough time to read our guide, but want a quick expert overview of Group Critical Illness Cover? One of our expert consultants Nick Nelms, gives us the rundown on Group Critical Illness Cover and how much a company scheme costs. Just hit play! 👇
Everyone faces a very real risk of critical illness during their working lives.
Offering a Group Critical Illness policy with core cancer cover sends a clear signal that you value your employees and are there to support them when they need it most, this is particularly .
Furthermore, an impressive employee benefits package can:
Our individual protection survey found only 9% of workers surveyed had personal Critical Illness Cover. Anything employers can therefore do to close this protection gap can make a big difference.
Meanwhile, when it comes to the payout, employees can use it as they see fit, perhaps:
Every business is unique. As such, it is difficult to estimate the cost of Group Critical Illness Cover without doing research for your business.
Your premiums will depend on:
As an illustration and very rough guide, we’ve laid out insurance quotes for two different businesses in the table below.
Services Company | Technology Company | |
|---|---|---|
Location | Cornwall | London |
Employees | 100 | 20 |
Level of Cover | 2 x Basic Salary | 1 x Basic Salary |
Illnesses Covered | Core + Additional | Core + Additional | Cost | £9.53 | £8.60 |
For employers, it’s usually an allowable business expense against your corporation tax bill. Meanwhile, staff usually receive the payout free from tax.
However, it’s important to know that Group Critical Illness Cover is a taxable benefit in kind (P11D).
Your employees therefore have to pay additional tax on the premiums you pay on their behalf.
Usually, HMRC deducts the cost of premiums you’re paying from workers’ personal allowances. Having a lower personal allowance means income tax kicks in earlier on employees’ wages.
As an employer, you’ll also have to pay employer’s National Insurance contributions on the premiums.
We are an independent insurance broker. That means we work with every leading UK insurer, searching the entire market to find the best fit for you, your business and your employees.
The top group risk insurers we deal with are:
On top of the core benefit of paying out for critical illnesses, support services insurers usually include free with policies often include:
While Group Critical Illness Cover is rarely the first benefit companies introduce, it’s nonetheless a valued employee benefit.
You might look to introduce it after you’ve put in place:
Critical Illness Cover pays out a cash lump sum benefit if an employee falls ill. Group Income Protection, on the other hand, pays a proportion of an employee’s wages every month for a set period.
While Critical Illness Insurance only covers a few very serious conditions, Income Protection covers staff for anything that medically prevents them working.
Ultimately, the most common claims on Group Income Protection are for issues Critical Illness Cover doesn’t pay out for, including mental health problems and musculoskeletal issues.
Given the vast array of illnesses and injuries Income Protection covers, it may prove a better option for your staff.
Critical Illness Cover pays out a cash lump sum benefit if you’re diagnosed with one of the critical medical conditions listed on the policy.
Your condition doesn’t have to be life-limiting for a successful claim. You could claim for a cancer diagnosis you later recover from with treatment, for example.
Terminal Illness Cover, on the other hand, is typically included for free with Life Insurance. It sees the policy pay out early if a doctor says you have less than 12 months to live.
A policy typically covers children of employees for free up until the age of 18. They’ll have cover for a set of specific child-related conditions. You can also include employees’ spouses / civil partners, but this will be at an additional cost.
We’re often asked whether a company can introduce serious illness cover on a voluntary basis, with only employees who opt in paying premiums out of their own pockets.
Unfortunately due to potential adverse risk the policy must be company paid covering all employees or a clearly defined category of employee.
Setting up and maintaining a competitive employee benefits package can be a bit of a headache. We do the heavy lifting for businesses of all sizes throughout the UK so they can focus on what they are best at: delivering their own proposition.
We started Drewberry™ because we were tired of being treated like a number.
We all deserve a first class service when it comes to things as important as protecting our health and our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us.
If you need help setting up group critical illness cover give us a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk to speak to an expert adviser.