Skip to main content
Opens in a new tab External site
Employers fork out but British workers in the dark: Survey
Over 3 million Britons covered by life insurance, but do not know
Employees advised to seek information on their benefits to ensure they are not re-purchasing the same insurance cover privately
London
NYSE: AOC

LONDON, 12 August 2008 - More than three million Britons are unaware their employer provides them with life insurance and are potentially forking out for unnecessary private cover, according to new research conducted by Aon Consulting, a leading pension, benefits and HR consulting firm.

In a survey of 1,300 respondents, 77% said they were not provided with life insurance or did not know if the benefit was offered. Yet, the reality is that almost 40% of working Britons are provided with life assurance through a policy organised by their employer - with this proportion on the increase. Additionally, a significant number of employers offer cover on an uninsured basis.

The findings showed that male workers (29%) were more clued up than their female colleagues (17%) about whether life insurance is provided. Regionally, workers in Scotland (24%), Birmingham and Leeds (22%) were better informed than those in Newcastle (18%), Bristol (17%) and Manchester (16%).

Paul White, head of risk benefits at Aon Consulting, commented: "Employers have long recognised the value of offering life assurance as part of the overall benefits mix to attract and retain the best talent. Corporate life assurance rates are currently very competitive, often significantly lower than the rates that can be obtained by an individual. This provides the employer with the opportunity to give and communicate a cost effective, tax-free benefit that employees really want and indeed will often pay for themselves.

"Indeed, many of those employees who are unaware that their employer provides them with life assurance are often re-purchasing the same cover privately at their own expense. As family budgets are becoming more stretched, checking whether life assurance and other benefits are provided by the employer could be one area where over three million Britons could make a substantial saving every year."

However, when employees are aware of the life assurance benefit, it seems that they have a reasonable understanding of the kind of cover applying to them. Typically policies will pay out three or four times the employee's salary, ensuring the next of kin is financially looked after in difficult times.

For more information contact:

FD:                                                                                            

Leo Wood / Josephine Corbett                                              

0207 269 7137 / 250  

leo.wood@fd.com 
Josephine.corbett@fd.com              

 

Aon Press Office:

David  Skapinker
020 7505 7478

David.skapinker@aon.co.uk

http://aon.mediaroom.com

 

About Aon Consulting

Aon Consulting is a leading human capital consultancy, helping organisations of every size to attract and keep the employees they need. We advise on all aspects of employment, including health-related insurance and risk; employee compensation and pensions; human resource strategy planning; job design and change management; and staff assessment and legal issues. Aon Consulting is a division of Aon, one of the UK's largest insurance brokers and providers of risk management services and a major force in reinsurance and the UK human capital consulting market. Aon Consulting Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

 

About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting. Through its 36,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Our industry-leading global resources, technical expertise and industry knowledge are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Aon was named the world’s best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008 Insurance Survey. In 2008, Aon ranked highest on the Business Insurance ranking of the world's largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues. Aon also was ranked by A.M. Best as the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007 and 2008, and was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary, and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007 by the readers of Business Insurance. For more information on Aon, log onto www.aon.com.

 

Safe Harbour Statement: http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=67

 

Aon Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in respect of insurance mediation activities only.

Media Resources

Access international media contacts, the full library of Aon media releases, and a media kit with fact sheet and executive bios, via links below.

Media Contacts
Media Releases
Media Kit
Featured Updates