Employer Group Life and Salary Continuance

As a workforce grows, baseline protection for employees becomes both a duty-of-care question and a part of the employee value proposition. Employer group life and salary continuance answers it at the group level. Rather than each employee arranging their own cover, the employer funds and arranges a group programme that provides a baseline of protection across a defined group, commonly with automatic-acceptance terms up to a set level so most employees are covered without individual underwriting.

A group programme can include group life, which pays a lump sum on the death of a covered employee, group total and permanent disability, and group salary continuance, which provides an income-style benefit to employees during an extended period of illness or injury. The design work sits around workforce demographics, eligibility, the level of cover, automatic-acceptance limits, policy terms and how the programme is communicated to staff.

Group salary continuance is not the same as individual income protection. Group salary continuance is arranged and funded by the employer across a defined group of employees and is group-underwritten. Individual income protection is owned by the person and individually underwritten. If you are an individual reviewing your own cover, see Income Protection Insurance.

DKG is an advisory-led general insurance broker with specialist Life and People Risk capability. We advise before we place. We design the group programme around your workforce, place and implement it and support employee communication, and we review it as the workforce changes. We set honest expectations about eligibility, automatic-acceptance limits and underwriting up front, and cover is always subject to policy wording.

What are the benefits?

• A baseline of protection across a defined group of your employees, funded and arranged by the employer.
• Group life cover designed to pay a lump sum on the death of a covered employee, subject to policy wording.
• Group total and permanent disability cover, designed to respond where a covered employee is permanently unable to work, as defined by the policy.
• Group salary continuance, designed to provide an income-style benefit to employees during an extended period of illness or injury, distinct from individual income protection.
• Automatic-acceptance terms up to a set level, so most eligible employees can be covered without individual underwriting, subject to the policy.
• A programme designed around your workforce and supported through implementation, employee communication and review.

What can it cover?

A group programme is arranged at employer level across a defined group of employees. In general terms, and subject to underwriting, terms, conditions, exclusions and policy wording, the programme can be designed to provide:

• Group life: a lump sum on the death of a covered employee.
• Group total and permanent disability: a benefit where a covered employee meets the policy’s permanent disability definition.
• Group salary continuance: an income-style benefit to a covered employee during an extended period of illness or injury, arranged and funded at employer level.
• Automatic-acceptance cover up to a set level for eligible employees, with cover above that level subject to underwriting.
• Programme design around workforce demographics, eligibility, policy terms and employee communication.

The cover levels, eligibility terms and automatic-acceptance limits depend on the workforce, the group policy and what the insurer will support. We design the programme around your workforce before any cover is placed.

What usually isn’t covered?

Group cover responds to the eligibility terms and definitions set out in the group policy. In general terms, and subject to policy wording, the following are usually not covered:

• Individuals who fall outside the eligible group or the eligibility terms.
• Cover above the automatic-acceptance limit where the additional amount has not been underwritten.
• Events that fall outside the group policy definitions.
• Matters the group policy is not written to answer.

What a group policy covers and excludes is determined by the insurer and the policy wording, including the eligibility terms and automatic-acceptance limits. We explain those terms before a programme is placed.

How DKG supports you

We start with your workforce and your objectives, then design a group programme around eligibility, cover levels, automatic-acceptance limits and policy terms. We place and implement the programme and support clear communication to employees so they understand what is in place. We are explicit that group salary continuance is an employer-funded group benefit and is distinct from the individual income protection an employee may hold personally. We review the programme as the workforce changes, and we refer personal, legal and tax questions to the appropriate adviser.

When a claim is made, group claims can involve eligibility, the group policy definitions, medical evidence and, for salary continuance, the waiting and benefit periods. We act as the employer’s and the employee’s advocate through the process. We help prepare and present the claim, work through the definitions and evidence and manage insurer engagement. The insurer and the policy wording determine the outcome, and we make no representation as to claim results.

DKG’s Life and People Risk practice is led by Marnie Maloney, Head of Life and People Risk. She brings more than 20 years of experience in life insurance and financial advice, with deep expertise across personal risk advice, business succession planning and corporate protection. To design or review an employer group life and salary continuance programme for your workforce, contact Marnie via email or phone on 1800 252 926.

Related services

• Income Protection Insurance (the individually owned distinction)
• Corporate Health Insurance
• Buy-Sell and Key Person Insurance
• Personal Life Insurance

Other cover may be considered and additional exclusions may apply.

Important note− The information provided is general advice only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. When making decisions about employer group life and salary continuance insurance, please consider the Product Disclosure Statement.