Lockton believe that now is the time for organisations to challenge traditional insurance broker and market structures by not running workers’ compensation and personal accident policies in siloes.
Whilst there are undeniable differences in the legislation pertaining to each type of policy, more organisations are increasingly where possible, combining the marketing of workers’ compensation and group personal accident policies to achieve better renewal outcomes.
The dual marketing of programs enables organisations to gain as much leverage as possible when negotiating rates and potential rate reductions. This approach is available through a select number of insurers, and organisations who have undertaken this process have enjoyed price competitiveness, innovative coverage and consistent claims management for injured employees if both policies are aligned with the one insurer.
In one example, Lockton saved a large Western Australia mining client $1,000,000 on their upcoming renewal as a result of undertaking this process.
Better understanding claims performance
When marketing an organisation’s workers’ compensation and group personal accident program, having a strong understanding of claims performance, and ensuring that the claims liabilities are as low as possible enables leverage to get the best possible rates and premium. This is particularly relevant in the group personal accident space, where it is critical to ensure claims liabilities are as low as possible given rates continue to rise, in particular for claims experience bonus-based policies.
Organisations who can also provide consistent claims management across all types of policies will achieve the best results this renewal and reduce the impact claims will have on future premiums.
Making the claims connection internally
In recent times, we continue to see examples of employees claiming across multiple policies. These types of scenarios can easily fall through the gap if the different departments within an organisation who are managing the claims are not in constant dialogue with each other.
We believe the proactive management of injured/ ill employees is critical, regardless of whether their injury/illness occurred in the workplace or elsewhere provides significant business benefits.
This claims management rigor is more common in the workers’ compensation arena, however in the non-work-related space, traditionally claimants experience very limited case management which leads to protracted and costly claims
We recommend that organisations manage all injured employees with a consistent claims management framework, reducing the impact on future premiums and ensuring that culturally you retain your key personnel.
Bonus renewal tip: what insurers want to see
Providing the insurers with a quality underwriting submission is of the upmost importance. It’s important to note that insurers look favourably on employers who can demonstrate the right Workplace Health & Safety and Risk Management practices within their business. Insurers may view this as a risk conscious employer who values health and safety in the workplace.
Such efforts may provide the insurer with more confidence about the risk and can translate to lower premiums.
More information
Download Lockton’s 2022 People Insurance Outperformance Report for more insights on how your organisation can achieve better renewal outcomes on people-related insurances.
Click the download button (located on the right for desktop users and at the bottom for mobile users) and fill out the form to access the report.
