More than half (55%) of employers do not accurately understand the circumstances in which group life assurance (GLA) policies pay out, according to research by Opinium on behalf of Group Risk Development (Grid).

The research gathered opinions from 500 HR decision makers at 500 UK employers, including 100 organisations with more than 250 employees. It also showed that the percentage of employers that lack an understanding of GLA payout circumstances rises to 75% among larger organisations.

The research also found that:

• 36% of employers incorrectly think that the employee must be on work business or at their place of work at the time of death, or die due to a work-related incident, to be eligible for a payout.
• 45% of employers know that GLA pays out a benefit on an employee’s death for any reason, at any time while they are in employment.
• 36% of organisations offer GLA to all staff, and a further 17% offer it to senior staff or a limited section of the workforce.
• 91% of organisations with more than 250 employees offer GLA to some or all employees, while only 17% of those with fewer than 10 employees do so.
• The key reasons for employers not offering GLA to staff include there being no demand from employees (34%), it being considered too expensive to set up and maintain (24%) and the lack of government promotion and incentive (13%).

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