Author: Chris Morgan, Head of Group Distribution, Group Protection.

As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. So we give employees the tools they need to proactively manage their health and wellbeing.

The earlier, the better

Early intervention is effective. The earlier we’re able to provide support, the better the final outcome for your clients’ people. In 2021, 45% of employees absent from work who had an active intervention by vocational rehabilitation returned to work before the start of the deferred period¹.

Early intervention is especially effective for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions. Mental health conditions are the second most common cause of claim (18% of all claims in 2022¹) and a big reason for short term absence.

The longer an employee’s been absent from work, the harder it is to make a successful return. This can be because other things make a return more challenging. While an employee may have been off work originally because of a physical injury, a long time away from the workplace can cause related mental health issues - anxiety in returning to a workplace that might’ve changed. Or perhaps depression caused by a long period of absence from their friends and colleagues.

These are all reasons why we ask employers to tell us about any absent employees by the end of the fifth week of their absence at the latest. Rather than waiting for the deferred period to expire, we'll look to start helping an employee as early as we can to get them back to their best

It’s in the employer’s hands

One of the biggest issues we face is employers not telling us early of an employee’s absence.

In October 2023, we found that of all claims paid in the month, only 17% were paid in time for the first payment following the end of the deferred period. This is because these were the only claims notified to us with 13 weeks of the absence first occurring. 57% of claims paid took more than 17 weeks to be notified to us. 28% of claims paid were actually notified to us after the end of the deferred period².

Typically, we find that SMEs find it harder to notify us early as they’re not likely to claim very often, their HR processes are less well defined or documented, and they may have little HR support.

However, we still see issues with larger employers. Sometimes because absence reporting systems are not up to the task, and the process is not well documented and clear to line managers. Ultimately, it often falls to line managers to make notifications, especially if HR systems and support are not available.

Our message for employers is to think of their GIP policy as a tool to help employees back to work – prevention and rehabilitation – it’s not just a financial benefit. So use it. Make sure HR processes are documented and managers understand the purpose of the process, and the benefits of early notification.

For you, this guidance would be good to include in the support and advice you give to your clients. It’s not just about choosing the right product from the right provider to meet a company’s needs. Employers need to be reminded of their policy benefits and how best to use them.

Smart Health is provided to AIG Life Limited customers by Teladoc Health. We want to let you know that these services are non-contractual, which means they don’t form part of the insurance contract with us. If our partnership with Teladoc Health ends, these services could be changed or withdrawn in the future.

¹GRiD 2022 full claims survey stats, May 2023
²AIG MI 2023