Group private medical insurance is perceived by advisers as being the workplace protection and wellbeing benefit most valued by employees, but providers in the sector are less prepared to divulge market information to advisers than those in other benefits sectors, according to the first report to ever publish market share data on workplace protection providers.
The Workplace Protection & Wellbeing Report published by Corporate Adviser Intelligence today reveals for the very first time the market share by lives covered and employers across the group risk, corporate healthcare, corporate cash plan and wellbeing providers.
To request a free copy of the report – click here.
Canada Life Group Insurance is the largest group life and group critical illness provider in terms of employees covered, covering 2,224,057 and 235,282 employees respectively. But the group risk sector benefits from a high level of competition from providers.
Unum is the largest group income protection provider, covering 783,000 employees.
Coverage of corporate cash plans has soared in the last two years, from industry estimates of just over 1m employees covered in 2016 to almost 1.5m today. Health Shield has the biggest corporate cash plan book of business.
Bupa reports the biggest book of corporate healthcare business, covering 2,223,470 employees with group PMI and healthcare trusts, as at 31.12.18. However, the report reveals that some providers in the corporate healthcare sector display a level of opacity around market share figures that is uncommon across the broader employee benefits community. Pension and Isa providers, group risk providers, cash plan providers and investment managers all share data on the number of employers and employees they serve, or the volume of the assets they manage. But the corporate healthcare market is divided between four providers – Aviva, Bupa, Healix and VitalityHealth – that are happy to disclose their market share figures to advisers, and three providers – Axa PPP Healthcare, Cigna Europe and WPA – that are not.
Interviews conducted with smaller advisers for the report identified that they see this opacity as a barrier to them doing business in the corporate healthcare space. Larger intermediaries may have this information through high-level connections with providers, or through paid-for reports that are beyond the reach of smaller advisers, they say.
Some corporate healthcare providers that declined to supply data describing doing so as ‘commercially sensitive’, with one provider saying ‘we just don’t do it that way’. Some countered that they are transparent in their behaviour as they contribute to industrywide peer surveys and to the ABI statistics.
This Corporate Adviser Intelligence report aims to give advisers and consultants a clear picture of the key workplace protection and wellbeing providers delivering services and insurance products via employers.
It covers all the main group risk, corporate healthcare (group private medical insurance) and cash plan providers in the market, as well as some of the better known standalone wellbeing providers, reviewing their market size and product features.
It aims to bring clarity to the shape and structure of the sector, to deepen understanding of the propositions available, and help advisers understand which providers operate in which market segments, where their sweet spots are and how their propositions differ. It complements our other reports on workplace savings providers, master trusts and DC default funds, and ESG investing.
The report reveals for the first time the levels of business transacted by almost all the key providers– with some notable exceptions – in specific business sectors, enabling intermediaries to understand better the organisations with whom they are considering entrusting with employer clients. This disclosure is new territory for the group risk and corporate healthcare sectors, and we thank the great majority of providers that supplied us with complete data for their forward-thinking and transparent approach.
To request a free copy of the report – click here.