The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), working with Group Risk Development (GRiD), has launched a new guide to help explain the benefits of business key person and employee protection insurance.
Many businesses and particularly smaller businesses have been stretched by the pandemic and many can ill afford further financial shocks. Most business owners are comfortable discussing their need for the likes of fire, theft, liability and business interruption insurance but may not think of their employees as assets that need protection. Indeed, businesses with 250 or fewer employees are particularly vulnerable to a financial loss that will impact their operations if a key individual dies or becomes unable to work because they become ill or disabled.
This new guide explains how businesses can be protected against this possibility and how they can get appropriate advice about the range of insurance covers available.
BIBA’s Executive Director Graeme Trudgill said: “Following the success of our SME Insurance Guide which explained how businesses could be protected against damage, interruption and liability risks we recognised that more could be done to help businesses understand the risk of the loss of key employees. Insurance brokers can use this guide to raise the need for their clients to protect their most valuable asset – their people.”
Katharine Moxham of GRiD who co-authored the guide added: “We believe that many businesses remain unprotected and we want to highlight how straightforward it can be to prevent a financial shock that could lead to business failure.
“This approach can easily be extended to consider protecting employees and their families from the financial devastation that can result from the death, illness or disability of a breadwinner. Sadly, this is something that smaller businesses might overlook until something dreadful happens to an employee, and they can then face some difficult decisions about whether and how to help their employee and/or their family.”
The guide is also supported by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Chartered Insurance Institute which have also been part of the ongoing programme to raise awareness about protection insurance through the group born from the Access to Insurance Working Group Caxton House Statement where providers and other stakeholder came together to improve access to protection insurance.
Trudgill concluded: “Insurance brokers, advisors and intermediaries are able to provide advice on the different insurance policies available to a business and help them to understand the basis of their insurances and the risks they face. In this sense this guide is invaluable.”
Download the employee protection guide
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About BIBA
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) is the UK’s leading general insurance intermediary organisation representing the interests of insurance brokers, intermediaries and their customers.
BIBA membership includes around 1800 regulated firms, employing more than 100,000 staff. General insurance brokers contribute 1% of GDP to the UK economy; they arrange 67% of all general insurance with a premium totalling £65.1bn and 81% of all commercial insurance business. Insurance brokers put their customers’ interests first, providing advice, access to suitable insurance protection and risk management.
BIBA receives hundreds of thousands of enquiries per year to its Find Insurance Services, online and via the telephone, which are directed to insurance broking firms.
BIBA is the voice of the sector advising members, Government, regulators, consumer bodies and other stakeholders on key insurance issues.
About GRiD
Group Risk Development (GRiD) is the industry body for the group risk protection sector, promoting the value to UK businesses of providing financial protection for their staff, enhancing their wellbeing and improving employee engagement. Its membership includes insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries and those operating in (or with other interests in) the UK group risk market.