Mental health and wellbeing have been talked about more during the past 18 months than ever before, and is finally getting the level of awareness and openness that it needs. Long may the discussion continue.
The most recent challenge facing many employees globally is working from home and managing a situation which may be totally or partially new. Ladders’ survey found that 49% of remote workers noted their biggest struggle with location flexibility was wellness related. More specifically, 19% felt lonely, causing distraction in their work. TSheets found that constant working from home can put people in jeopardy of poor health and cognitive decline. The risk of lack of sleep and depression is a factor too. How can the insurance industry support customers who may be struggling with wellbeing, mental health and generally feeling out of control?
Value-added services helping customers
Enter value-added services; services offered to policyholders outside of the insurance contract. They’re not based on an insurable risk or event but are benefits of enrolment. They are typically not linked to a claim on an insurance policy and are often offered to increase the “tangibility” of otherwise intangible policies (covering infrequent events than may never occur while a policyholder is insured). As such, they can be important in adding value to the policy and improving the satisfaction, retention and renewal of these policies.
The value-added services can be split into the following four categories:
- Self-service
Includes services where insurers provide tools and techniques for customers to better manage their insured risk, for example by providing education on preventative health measures, safety or other topics, such as financial education, linked to health outcomes. Discount cards to pharmacies, retail outlets, gym memberships or other businesses are often used. Customers can feel more empowered to manage their own risk and consequently reduce the cost of service for insurers.
- Advice and assistance
Includes services that provide timely assistance in case of need, as well as information which can help better manage lifestyles. Services are often tailored towards mitigating risks as well as engaging with customers. These can include various types of assistance, including legal assistance or assistance with employment issues or legal helplines, cyber support, and disaster recovery for business insurance. As an example, health screenings, preventative consultations and telemedicine can be offered.
- Anticipation of customer needs
Some value-added services are designed to fill gaps in the customer’s overall journey by anticipating their needs and catering to these by providing life-staged based offerings.
- Collaboration and engagement
These value-added services are focused on improving customer loyalty and retention, developing stronger connections by seeking to directly engage customers.
Value-Added or Added Value?
Insurance customers value integrated, omnichannel propositions and tailored offerings designed to meet their core needs. A study from Accenture found that health and wellbeing related services are particularly valued.
For customers, value-added services provide access to services which they would not usually have access to. For example, discounted fitness trackers, access to online video GP appointments and health apps, which provide information on how to manage your mental and physical health.
When comparing the primary benefits of term-, mortgage decreasing term-, critical illness- or income protection policies available from the providers available in the market, it’s typically the primary benefits that are focused on first. When researching critical illness cover for a client, for example, ensuring the providers offer cover for the top 10 diseases would be of primary concern.
Innovation over the last couple of years has seen an increase in “added value benefits” becoming a core component of many protection plans. In addition to the primary benefits mentioned above, insurers now offer wider benefits that can help consumers stay healthy both in mind and body, as well as benefits that can improve recovery or lessen the effects of injury or ill health. Such added benefits might not always be part of the primary research but may well be worth reviewing as part of the overall research.
Protection is the path to wellbeing through value-added services.
Value-added services are nothing new – over the last 10+ years, the conventional insurance policy has had many iterations, moving from a mere product-led proposition to a service-led proposition, providing additional value for the consumer which they may not be able to, or would not, engage through other means. The last couple of months have shown us the importance of wellbeing and mental health, and services providing support and guidance on maintaining good mental and overall health are invaluable right now. Do your customers know which services they have access to through their mobiles? If the answer is “not sure”, now is a great time to remind them.
To benefit from free access to the Synaptic Webline protection ‘quote and apply’ portal, contact [email protected] for your free licence.
Tiina Stephens, Chief Operating Officer, Synaptic Software Limited
