Industry data compiled by Group Risk Development (GRiD) shows that employees and their dependants have benefitted from £2.21bn in claims paid by group risk providers.
Group risk benefits: employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness, are some of the most popular benefits offered to staff, and they have been well utilised throughout 2022. Not only are they a valuable recruitment and retention tool, they have been shown to provide financial support at a time when it’s most needed, as well as practical support in helping people remain in or return to work.
There were 261,631 interactions during 2022 with additional help and support services funded by group risk insurers, and 5,651 employees were helped back to work within the same year following a period of sickness absence.
Total benefits paid across group risk
- Group life assurance policies paid out total benefits to the value of £1.53bn: a decrease of £36.17m over 2021.
There were fewer deaths as result of Covid, which explains this year-on-year decrease.
- Group income protection (GIP) policies paid out a total of £547.91m: an increase of £1.77m over 2021.
- Group critical illness policies paid out benefits totalling £128.5m: an increase of £22.1m over 2021.
Average claim amounts
The average claim amounts for each group risk employee benefit shows that these benefits should not just be seen as perks for the higher paid, but are a highly valuable benefit for any employee, regardless of their salary, age, or position.
- £121,655 for group life
- £26,755 p.a. for group income protection
- £72,427 for group critical illness
| Benefit | No. of claims | Value of claims paid | Average new claim amount | % of new claims paid for 20223 |
| Group Life Assurance | 12,601 | £1,532,980,199 | £121,655 | 99.5% |
| Group Income Protection1 | 16,186 | £547,908,788 | £26,7552 | 75.7% |
| Group Critical Illness | 1,774 | £128,486,199 | £72,427 | 77.7% |
| Totals | 30,561 | £2,209,375,186 |
Main causes of claim
As in previous years, cancer was the main cause of claim across all three products during 2022. Covid19 only accounted for 3.7% of group life assurance claims.
| Benefit | Main cause of new claims | % | Second main cause of new claims | % |
| Group Life Assurance | Cancer | 37% | Heart Disease | 14% |
| Group Income Protection | Cancer | 27% | Mental Illness | 18% |
| Group Critical Illness | Cancer | 66% | Heart Attack | 9% |
Additional help and support
Embedded benefits within group risk products are continually enhanced and developed, many of which are available to all employees, regardless of a claim being made, and these have been particularly well utilised throughout 2022. Support includes areas such as:
- An Employee Assistance Programme
- Access to virtual GPs and health apps
- Bereavement support and help with probate
- Facilitating a second medical opinion
- Fast-track access to counselling, physiotherapy, or other treatment
- Liaison and mediation
In 2022, there was a total of 261,631 interactions with the additional help and support services, funded by group risk insurers, giving daily value to employers and employees. Of these, 27% involved access to counselling and 13% were related to illness and 5% to legal issues.
Return to work
In addition to the claims paid under group income protection, many employees are helped back to work both before and after a claim becomes payable, often with the support of the insurer, the employer or both.
GRiD has captured details of the cases where the insurer supported a return to work with active early intervention (such as fast-track access to counselling or physiotherapy, funded by the insurer) before that employee was eligible for a monetary payment.
A total of 5,651 people had a period of sick leave in 2022 and were helped to return to work within the same year. Of these:
- 4,257 people (39.1% of all claims submitted by 6.2% on 2021) were able to go back to work during 2022 because of such early intervention; of which, 47% had help to overcome mental illness, and 10% had support overcoming a musculoskeletal condition.
- 1,394 people went on to claim a GIP benefit during 2022 and had returned to work within the same year.
A further 1,782 people who became a new group income protection claim in 2021 were helped by insurers to make a full return to work by the end of 2022.
Covid-19 claims
Group life
| Full Year 2022 | Full Year 2021 | |
| Percentage of claims related to covid-19 | 3.7% | 11.7% |
Covid-19 claims for 2022 account for 3.7% of group life claims, which is a decrease compared to 2021 where covid-19 accounted for 11.7% of group life claims.
Covid-19 is now the 7th main cause of claim in 2022, compared to 2021, where covid-19 was the 4th main cause of claim for group life.
Group income protection
| Full Year 2022 | Full Year 2021 | |
| Percentage of claims related to covid-19 | 6.1% | 7.0% |
In 2022, covid-19 accounted for 6.1% of new GIP claims, which is a decrease compared to 2021 where covid-19 accounted for 7.0% of new GIP claims.
Covid-19 is now the 6th main cause of claim for GIP in 2022, compared to 2021, where covid-19 was the 5th main cause of claim for GIP.
