Following adviser feedback, Ellipse has revised its approach on absentee disclosure in group life, introduced in November last year.
Last November the group insurer dropped its actively at work conditions, used by insurers to protect from taking on individuals who are absent from work due to sickness absence.
It replaced this with asking employers to provide details of who had taken off significant chunks of time in the year prior to cover starting.
Ellipse, said at the time that, by looking at what had happened in the recent past, rather than suddenly being faced with a problem at cover date, the approach would give greater certainty about who is or isn't covered.
The insurer has now devised a disclosure requirement that asks for details of current absentees with the length of significant absence varying by size of scheme.
Speaking of the new change in approach, John Ritchie, CEO of Ellipse, explaned: "We hold our hands up - the change we made in November wasn't popular.
"Our motive was to get rid of the uncertainty and potential gaps in cover that exist when ‘actively at work' conditions are applied. At the same time we changed the absence definition for disclosure on new and switching schemes.
"We still think actively at work exclusions as a protection for the insurer should be consigned to the past as the effect can be to leave risk - even if only temporarily - with the small business and their employees who are in no position to carry it.
"We have come up with a new disclosure requirement that asks for details current absentees with the length of absence varying by size of scheme."
