Capita Employee Benefits Cancer-only Group Risk Plan
Capita has launched an inexpensive cancer-only group risk plan, underwritten by Friends Life.
The plan has a fixed sum insured of £25,000 per employee on diagnosis of cancer.
Capita says critical illness insurance is the third most popular employee benefit (based on its own research among 3,000 employees carried out in 2014), but that ‘broad-brush critical illness policies often fail both the affordability and sustainability tests for many employers due to their cost and the uncertainty of future claims management and underwriting.’
Comment: Cancer only cover has two uses – either as a low cost form of CI cover or to supplement or replace PMI cover. In the former case it is much less comprehensive than CI, although it does cover people’s biggest fear – the ‘big C’. With cancer care becoming a key cost for PMI, and the NHS generally providing much better cancer care than in the past, a case can be made that having PMI cover without or with only limited cancer, combined with some form of lump sum payment if cancer is diagnosed may be a more cost-effective solution, especially as a reasonable sum such as £25K gives the cancer sufferer a number of options. It’s not a perfect solution of course but, as Capita says, it could be a more affordable and sustainable solution for many employers.
Unfortunately Capita had not responded to our requests for more information by the time we went to press, nor could we find much detail on its website so, on the limited information we have, we can only say that this looks to be a useful option for some employers to consider – but they will need a lot more information before committing themselves to it.
Plus points: Simple low cost cancer-only cover; Can help form a budget PMI or CI solution; Sustainable and affordable; £25K can provide a lot of options.
Not so plus points: Only covers cancer and does not cover other life threatening conditions; Cancer remains a leading worry for many people; £25K cover may not be enough for some cancer treatments (nor would ten times that figure); Employees may not understand the plan’s limitations compared to a full cost CI or PMI solution; More information needed!
Website: http://www.capitaemployeebenefits.co.uk.
Rating (max 10): Innovation: 7. Overall: 7. Silver
Tags: Capita; Other