In the span of a year a lot can happen: Your company might have expanded, doubling or tripling in size, and you might have outgrown your medical or term life insurance policies; you may have set up a new overseas office which requires your employees to take business trips, so you might want to consider adding or upgrading your travel insurance plans.
Renew your employee benefits to meet your team’s evolving needs. The employee benefits insurance you take on will be tied to you for a year so take the time to carefully review your current plans, hear what your employees have to say and find how you can improve what you are currently offering them.
In this article we explain why employee benefit insurance renewals are important and what you can do to ensure you are prepared to handle them:
Why are employee benefits insurance renewals important?
The main aim of an employee benefits insurance plan is to be able to ensure your team is well taken care of if something unfortunate happens, whether it’s gastric flu or a sports injury that requires knee surgery. As an employer, you have a duty of care – the responsibility to ensure that your team is provided access to the hospital treatment they need when they need it. You want to be certain that no employee is left with a large hospital bill that they struggle to pay. Or that your employee’s family struggles to fulfil basic needs in the event of permanent disability or death.
Employee benefits can include protection plans, group term life and group medical insurance. Renewals of these insurance plans are an excellent opportunity for you as an employer to reassess your current plan and determine if it still provides adequate coverage. A 2022 survey conducted by market researcher, Milieu Insight, found that 60% of respondents said that they are more willing to join an SME that has medical benefits. By offering medical benefits that shield your employees well, you can attract candidates as well as retain your current employees.
What to consider when renewing policies?
1. Expiry date of your current plan
Having the expiry date at the back of your mind would ensure you give yourself enough runway and can prepare well ahead of time to deal with the renewal process and all it entails. You want to avoid a situation where you are undecided or are in the midst of negotiations with your insurance provider and your plan expires – leaving your team without any insurance and vulnerable if something happens.
So what should you do? Gather all the information you need and know what changes you have to make to your policies before your coverage expires. First, take note of how your team has changed, what their needs are now and how the new policies should fill in these gaps. Next, gather feedback from your team – what policies currently cover them? In what way do they feel their coverage can be improved? Lastly, with this information you can approach your insurance provider and start the process of choosing policies and negotiating premium costs.
2. Employee needs and satisfaction levels
Each employee has a different set of needs depending on their age, stage of life, and number of dependents. Ensure your employees are aware of the coverage they need and the plans your company currently has, by arranging a panel session. Expat Insurance organises an Employee Communication Session to ensure all employees are well informed of their current benefits at each renewal.
Getting direct feedback from your team on their needs is the first step to ensuring you can fulfil them. Create opportunities for regular, open dialogue about what your employees’ needs are. This can be done through a simple online survey. Also, review your employees’ claim history – this provides you with a clear picture of your employees’ current needs. It’s also important that you take note of feedback regarding the claims processing process – is it straightforward, hassle-free and free of dispute? If not, how can you, together with your insurance provider, improve this process?
3. Rising premium costs
The cost of medical service and health Insurance premiums are rising in Singapore due to the Republic’s ageing population, medical advancements and increasing cost of healthcare manpower services and operations.
Additionally, the cost of corporate insurance premiums may increase due to the changes in your team. If the average age of your team has increased, so will the cost of the premiums. The size of your team also has an impact on how much you pay for premiums. Take into account your claim history for the past year too, as a sizable claim amount can significantly increase insurance premiums costs for your company the following year.
This is also a good time to review the budget your company sets aside for insurance and to see how you can reallocate resources so that you are prioritising medical coverage.
Consult Expat Insurance to renew your corporate insurance package
Expat Insurance is an experienced insurance provider that understands that you want the best for your employees. Our insurance advisors in Singapore will review your existing employee benefits plans, the changing needs of your team and propose plans that match these needs.
Start a conversation with us today.
