With rising numbers of self-employed people and small businesses across the UK it’s more important than ever to make sure you have the right protection cover in place. If a key person in a small business is off sick, or unable to work through illness, it has a big impact.
It’s important to ask yourself if your company could survive if the business owner was unable to work, or the worst should happen? According to research from Legal & General 67% of new businesses think they would cease trading immediately if a key person died or became critically ill, but the same report revealed over half of businesses don’t have any key protection in place.*
These figures clearly highlight the need for those who are self-employed or running small businesses to ensure they have the right insurance cover in place to protect their own health and the ongoing continuity of their business should the worst happen.
For mental health and wellbeing companies, it’s important to take their own advice and provide support for employees as well. With mental ill health one of the biggest challenges facing all employers, offering access to an employee assistance programme (EAP) can make all the difference.
An EAP can provide professional telephone, online and face-to-face counselling for a wide variety of issues and is completely confidential for employees and is a valuable aspect of an overall wellbeing strategy.
With many people working from home currently, many private medical insurance policies are offering extra virtual services including access to video consultations, remote GP appointments, online counselling and access to mental health support.
These types of services can provide quick and easy access to healthcare support, reducing waiting times for appointments, diagnosis and treatment, which can mean less time off work and less worry for people.
Having a proactive health and wellbeing strategy, which supports business owners and employees to look after themselves, can make a huge difference in a small business, reducing sickness absence and protecting business continuity.
Providing protection for key people, which can ensure the company could repay loans and credit even if that person could no longer work, can go a long way to keeping the company finances going during a difficult period.
No business is too small to have the right health, wellbeing and protection policies in place and the expert advisers within Towergate will work hard to make sure you get the right cover for your needs.
From life insurance to key person cover to protect the business owner, through to private health care and employee assistance programmes to help support and improve health and wellbeing, we can advise on the right programme for your company.
* Business Protection State of the Nation SME report – Legal and General
Carolyn Baker-Mellor is a respected industry leader with over 35 years' experience within the care insurance sector. She works across a wide spectrum of insurance product and policy development, delivery and optimisation for care industry clients, including managing global corporate accounts, working closely with trade associations, and helping clients in protecting their businesses and personal assets. Her areas of expertise within the sector include care homes, nurseries, domiciliary care, hospices and charities.
Carolyn currently works at Towergate as Head of Care Insurance. Towergate is the UK’s leading independent insurance broking platform and forms part of the Ardonagh Group, an international network of over 100 offices and 7,000 people which incorporates leading brands in both Lloyd’s of London and global markets.
She previously worked for 10 years at Aon as a director, client services leader and assistant director for claims.
Date: June 03, 2024
Category: Care and Medical