I work in the HR department of a medium-sized company. I’ve been asked to get quotes to see how much Group Income Protection costs before the company looks into introducing it.
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 boss can make a decision.
- Nadeem Farid
- Head of Employee Benefits
You’ll probably find it difficult to get Group Income Protection quotes online. This is because it’s a fairly complicated, dynamic product that’s not well-suited to online quotes.
Ultimately, the cost of Company Income Protection depends on a number of different factors. Some will relate to your business, while others will relate to your policy requirements.
Employee Factors Affecting The Cost
To get the ball rolling, you’ll need to provide a basic level of anonymous employee data. This will include:
- 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 different illnesses and so they’re priced differently. - Occupations
Riskier occupations (e.g. manual work over desk work) tend to attract a higher premium. - Salaries
Group Income Protection is designed as wage insurance for your employees. This means 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.
Some insurers will also ask you about where your employees are based (some postcodes are riskier than others) and whether they engage in any overseas travel to ‘high risk’ areas. High risk areas include countries with active or recent conflicts, outbreaks of infectious diseases or political instability.
Policy Factors Affecting The Cost
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. It is commonly set at a minimum of 13 weeks for most insurers, although a handful will offer shorter deferral periods at a higher premium.
If you would like to get an idea of cost we are here to help, it is best to quick conversation to understand your needs and discuss some key policy factors including:
- The level of cover your require
- The number of employee you are looking to cover
- The industry your in and the job roles of those you are looking to protect
- Any budget requirements you have
Once we have a good idea of what you are looking to achieve we will need to gather the basic anonymous employee data before we go out to each provider in the market on your behalf.
After 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.
