How Much Does Group Income Protection Cost?

I work in the HR department of a medium size company. I’ve been asked to get some Group Income Protection quotes to see how much it costs before the company looks into rolling it out. I haven’t been able to find any quotes online, so I was wondering if you’d be able to give me an idea of the price of these policies? It would be really good if I could go back with an idea of how much Business Income Protection costs so my company can make a decision.

You’ll probably find it difficult to get Group Income Protection quotes online because it’s a fairly complicated, dynamic product that’s not well-suited to Internet quote engines. At Drewberry we don’t provide automated Group Income Protection quotes because we feel it really requires expert advice to ensure you get the level of cover you need at a premium you’re happy with.

Should you request Group Sickness Insurance quotes from us, the first thing we’ll do is consult with you to discuss your needs, such as the level of cover, number of employees and budget for the scheme. We’ll also need a minimal amount of employee data from you (insurers require this to price the policy) before we go out to each provider in the market on your behalf.

Once the insurers have replied to our requests, we will come back to you with a recommendation report that contains your group income protection quotes from all relevant providers in the UK market.

What’s the cost of Group Income Protection Insurance?

As for the cost of a Company Income Protection Scheme, that depends on a number of different factors. As mentioned we will require a small amount of employee data from you so insurers can price the policy. This information is:

• Dates of birth – the cost of Income Protection rises as we get older because we’re more susceptible to illness or injury
• Gender of employees –  men and women are statistically more likely to suffer from certain illnesses and so they’re priced differently
• Occupations – riskier occupations (e.g. manual work over desk work) tend to attract a higher premium
• Salaries – Income Protection is designed as wage insurance for your employees, so the salaries of each individual you’re looking to cover will be relevant as the benefit will be calculated on the salary data you provide
• Whether everyone is ‘actively at work’ – an individual who’s on long-term sickness leave at the time of the quote may attract a higher premium, or have to be excluded from the cover depending on the nature of their illness.

We’ll also ask you about where the employees are based (some postcodes are riskier than others) and whether they engage in any overseas travel to ‘high risk’ areas – such as countries with active or recent conflicts – as this will drive the premium.

What affects the cost of Company Sick Pay Insurance?

The above are all factors that affect Group Income Protection premiums that you can’t change. However, there are two main variables within company sick pay insurance that you can adjust which will have an effect on the cost of cover:

• How long the cover will pay out – with Group Income Protection, you can choose a plan that will pay out for 2 years, 5 years or indefinitely (until the policy cease age), with the cost of cover rising the longer the payout period
• The deferred period – this is the length of time an employee has to be off sick before the cover kicks in and is commonly set at 13 weeks for most insurers, although a handful will offer shorter deferral periods at a higher premium.

As you can see there are a number of variables that can impact the cost of Business Income Protection Insurance, which is why it pays to discuss your options with an expert who can navigate the complexities of the market on your behalf. If you have any further enquiries about the cost of Group Income Protection or need any further help, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 02084327333.

Nadeem Farid
Head of Employee Benefits at Drewberry