Employees benefit with £2.21bn group risk payouts in 2022

Press release 15 May 2023.

• The UK Group Risk industry paid out £2.21bn in claims in 2022: equivalent to £6.05m a day.
• Cancer: Main cause of claim across all group risk products
• 5,651 employees returned to work after a period of sick leave beginning in 2022
• 261,631 interactions with the additional help and support services funded by Group Risk insurers

Industry data compiled and published today 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