Not needing to claim on a policy you have paid into for many years can in fact be seen as a good thing because it means you have remained fit and healthy, according to WPA
"Car and buildings insurance is mandatory by law, yet no-one actually wants to crash their car or see their house burn down," says Edward Watling, senior employee benefits consultant at Mattioli Woods.
"Customers can fail to realise that insurance is designed to cover an unfortunate event in the future, not the past. Policies are not wasted if you don't use them."
This peace of mind is also highly valued by employers providing group schemes because they know that, if necessary, employees can always receive treatment at a time suitable to their workloads and to those of their colleagues.
Additionally, employers benefit from the knowledge that modern PMI schemes now offer a whole raft of features that can help prevent employees from being ill in the first place, such as 24-hour phone lines, employee assistance programmes (EAPs) which also include stress counselling, debt management and legal services too, and health screening, i.e. information and videos on diet, fitness and other aspects of wellness.
Empowering employees
Sharon Shier, head of product development at WPA, says, "These are not wasteful benefits. Businesses need a tailored programme that helps them attract and retain the best people through this benefit and as part of an overall remuneration package."
Usually, employees can personalise care from flexible modular policies according to their individual preferences, with cover also sometimes extending to family members.
This allows individuals to think about what is important to them and what they can and cannot self-fund, making them feel empowered as opposed to paying for a benefit they will never use. They also benefit from the peace of mind knowing they have immediate access to private treatment if needed.
Data dependency
Predictive analytics tools can now collect data from a variety of sources to better understand and predict the behaviour of customers, helping insurers to manage their relationships, claims and underwriting.
Shier says: "While employees can log onto an online portal via an App and understand how much of their benefits have been used, employers receiving the same data in anonymised format can better understand usage by benefits and costs."
This myth-busting article is one of a series of 10 addressing common myths around PMI. Access the full list
This article was funded by WPA
