Unum Benni
Unum has launched a solution that lets staff pay for a range of benefits alongside existing employer-paid options.
Called Benni, it is available either direct or white labelled and provides businesses with a portfolio of employee-paid benefit options that they can make available to their staff.
Benni’s support team communicates to employees about the benefit offering, educates them on how it works, and helps them sign up and buy benefits.
Benni offers a simple 3-step solution:
1) The employer chooses which benefits they want to offer. There is a portfolio of product options that employers can make available to all their staff and can integrate with existing schemes.
2) Benni then helps tell their staff about the benefits available to them. A tailored communication and engagement plan is set up for each employer, complemented with onsite one-to-one support for employees during the benefit window from specialists.
Benni aims to:
Proactively communicate.
Educate - helping employees understand how they work and how to make their benefit choices.
Enrol/sign up - ensuring employees actively engage and choose the benefits they need and want.
Employees can review and select benefits on their mobile, tablet or desktop, and access the details 24/7.
3) The employer administers their benefits on Benni’s digital platform.
The employer then mainly just updates which employees leave and join - while also getting access to MI around the benefits their staff choose.
Comment: Unum says Benni gives intermediaries an opportunity to provide a broader range of solutions to existing clients and attract businesses that would previously have seen employer-paid options as not available. It also has the potential to help employers attract staff and demonstrate value while providing a choice of quality benefits Unum says.
It’s quite a straightforward package – think of it as a sort of voluntary scheme. It’s interesting that even the website promotes Benni rather than Unum, but the solution is well worth investigating for client firms that want to help their employees choose more employee benefits and can fit in with traditional group risks such as IP and PMI.
Plus points: A simple package of employee benefits; Employers choose what to offer and employees choose what to pay for; Simple and efficient admin; Includes valuable MI for the employer.
Not so plus points: Not a major earner for advisers unless they charge fees or take commission.
Website: http://www.benni.co.uk.
Rating (max 10): Innovation: 8. Overall: 8. Gold
Tags: Other; Unum.