Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Equality, diversity and inclusionDisabilityPay & benefitsHealth insurance

Insurer Unum shakes up income protection market

by Personnel Today 13 Mar 2008
by Personnel Today 13 Mar 2008

There is a new breed of income protection employee benefit contract being introduced into the market to help HR Managers more easily manage sickness in the workplace.

Unum, the UK’s leading disability insurer, has announced the launch of a unique new product called ‘Dual Benefit’ Group Income Protection.

Quotes will be available from 1 April 2008.

The ‘Dual Benefit’ name centres on the fact that, unlike other products on the market, it provides financial income benefits to both the employer and employee.

The product has been designed with the help of employers and is a result of Unum listening to its customers.

The employer can receive benefit in the form of an automatic monthly Business Income Benefit, which provides them with additional finance to manage the long-term absence of an employee.

It can be used, for example, to help an employer finance temporary replacement staff or carry out reasonable adjustments to the workplace in order to facilitate the return of a disabled employee.

Unum’s research also showed that most employers are keen to provide extra financial support for severely incapacitated employees in addition to the regular income replacement amounts traditionally paid to the employee.

Therefore, Dual Benefit will also provide an extra automatic lump sum payment on the expiry of the income benefit period if the employee remains incapacitated from one of a number of serious illnesses described in the policy.

On the employee side, research conducted by Unum during the creation of the product revealed that small to medium businesses tend to regard long-term absence as anything over two weeks.

As a result, for its Dual Benefit GIP Unum is the first insurer to add new four and eight week deferred period options to its standard 13 and 26 week ones in the business market.

 The policy will provide businesses with extra safeguards to help manage and reduce the chances of a potentially damaging disability related claim as it:

Provides a period of medical assessment and occupational evaluation
Provides finance for temporary replacement costs
Provides a termination payment if there is no return to work
During the payment period it provides assistance with professional rehabilitation services

Employers can choose to select a Pay Direct version of the policy that allows Unum to pay the income benefit directly to an employee who is unable to return to work and has left their organisation.

Wojciech Dochan, Head of Commercial Marketing, Unum, said: “Dual Benefit GIP was created following extensive qualitative research with both business decision makers and IFAs and we feel confident that there is a real market for this product.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“At one time or another most businesses will need to manage the prolonged absence of an employee.  Although most absences are for short periods of time, a good number are for longer durations and the costs and risks to the business of coping with a long-term absence can be significant.  This product will help them to mitigate these risks and improve business continuity.”

As with all of Unum’s GIP products, its in-house team of Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants will be on hand to assist in the rehabilitation of an incapacitated employee where appropriate.

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
TalentTracker launches rewards calculator
next post
The Waterfall Experience – three day personal development course

You may also like

NHS 10-year Health Plan sets out vision for...

3 Jul 2025

Living wage pushes up spring pay settlements

2 Jul 2025

Why bosses must set pay independently

2 Jul 2025

One in eight senior NHS managers from black...

1 Jul 2025

Reforming paternity leave could benefit UK by £13bn...

30 Jun 2025

Welfare cuts would ‘undermine workforce inclusion and business...

27 Jun 2025

Progressive DEI policy is a red line for...

27 Jun 2025

Bank of England says NIC rise is dampening...

27 Jun 2025

Graduate pay versus the living wage: an HR...

25 Jun 2025

BBC Breakfast bullying and misconduct allegations under investigation

20 Jun 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+