Why SME Owners Are Opting for Private Health Insurance

As Employee Health Insurance is a P11D benefit in kind, HMRC keeps records of how many people receive it and how much these premiums are worth collectively.

Between the 2010/11 and 2017/18 tax years, the volume of Private Medical Insurance / Dental Cover increased by 7.7%, from 2.21 million policies to 2.38 million policies, while the value of this benefit has increased from £1.59 billion to £1.93 billion.

While there are no statistics for the size of businesses that have Private Health Insurance, Drewberry’s own data on the size of companies we’ve helped get cover — including thriving family firm Ytron-Quadro — indicates that many businesses currently taking up this cover are small.

Managing Staff Absences

When you own a small business, by its very nature you have a small team of individuals around you and every person has their own vital role to perform to keep the company ticking over.

That’s why sickness absence can hit so hard — with fewer staff there are fewer people to take on an absent person’s workload if one person is off sick, which could lead to burnout in remaining staff as they struggle to take on additional responsibilities.

While Private Health Insurance can’t stop your staff becoming ill, it does make a big difference in their treatment and therefore how fast they can get back on their feet and back to work.

Health Insurance allows you to skip the NHS waiting lists. Given that, in 2017/18, the median wait for admitted treatments was 10 weeks and roughly 13% of patients had to wait more than 18 weeks to receive treatment as of March 2018, this can be invaluable.

Also, making sure you’ve got a good level of outpatient cover on your policy can really improve the speed at which your employees are diagnosed and treated. Outpatient treatment involves diagnostic tests and scans, the waiting list for which can be of similar length to admitted (inpatient) treatment. Outpatient treatment isn’t included as standard — you need to add it on separately. This can either be set as a monetary limit per patient per year or covered in full.

Improving Morale and Productivity

Employees tend to perform better in jobs where they feel like they’re valued. Introducing an employee benefit, such as Group Health Insurance, can be a great way to show your staff how important they are to you.

According to recent Drewberry research, more than half (56.7%) of staff at SMEs were unhappy at work because they don’t feel recognised for their efforts — this was the single biggest reason given for being unhappy in the workplace. Meanwhile, around a third (32.3%) of people said they were unhappy at work due to a lack of employee benefits.

Many Employee Health Insurance policies come with additional extras outside the ‘core’ cover that individuals can make use of. Such options can include helplines that offer a wide range of telephone-based services, from counselling to support with financial issues. This can help reduce overall stress, whatever its source, and allow more time to focus on work.

Private GP Services

Another big benefit of many Employee Health Insurance policies is that they often come with remote or virtual GP services included. This is important for Private Health Insurance because any process can only move as fast as its slowest component.

Historically, you needed a referral from your own NHS GP for diagnostics or treatment privately — with the wait to see NHS GPs lengthening, this was a major pinch-point for Health Insurance claims. Now, most providers include a virtual GP service as standard, which offers you access to a video conference with a GP on your smartphone wherever and whenever suits you.

These GP services can issue private prescriptions and make referrals for private outpatient diagnostic tests, which can all be achieved from the comfort of your own home and often on the same day that you request an appointment.

Improving Employee Retention and Recruitment

Along with keeping existing staff happy, if you’re looking to expand your business then employee benefits can be a great way to attract new workers. With nearly half of SME workers (and nearly three-quarters of 18-24-year-olds) looking for a new job in the next year or so, having an employee benefits package can be a great way to attract new workers to your company.

It can also help retain existing talent within the business, meaning you don’t have to go on an expensive recruitment drive in the first place unless you’re actively looking to grow staff numbers.

Supporting Your Health, Too

Of course, Group Health Insurance also extends to you as the company owner / director as well as your staff. That means you receive all of the benefits your employees do, including reduced waiting times.

This can be vital for someone running a small business, as too often there simply isn’t anyone else that can pick up the slack should you be off for weeks at a time waiting for an operation or other procedure.

You have a unique position at the helm of your business — you are the driving force and set company strategy. Without you the business could quickly suffer, which is why so many company directors look to be back at work as soon as possible should they fall ill.

In a Nutshell…

The benefits of Employee Health Insurance are numerous and cover both you and your staff. Getting a policy in place can be of huge benefit to everyone in a small business which, in turn, can help boost your bottom line through improved employee engagement, productivity and reduced absenteeism.

That’s why so many SMEs are turning to us to help with their Employee Health Insurance, which has given my team the experience necessary to help companies just like yours.

About Drewberry

Our goal is simple: to improve our clients’ financial wellbeing.

We help our clients take control of their finances by building lasting relationships where we support them to make informed decisions.

We provide financial advice services to individuals and businesses throughout the UK. Whether it’s setting up personal insurance to protect your lifestyle, managing your pensions, investments and other assets to improve your financial future or setting up employee benefits for a company, we’re here to help.