The devastating impacts of COVID-19 have continued to spotlight the need for insurance, particularly voluntary employee benefits that can provide financial protection for unexpected life events. While the need for benefits such as life insurance have been in the spotlight, what some employees might not be as familiar with are the additional services that often go along with them.
Value-added services that are often included with life insurance deliver extra layers of support for decisions that are made at an overwhelming and unsettling time of deep loss. Some of these services, include:
- Will and funeral preparation services, which can help employees pre-plan and work through key decisions before a crisis event with professional advocates, including licensed attorneys.
- Beneficiary counseling services, which can help bereaved employees cope with emotional, financial and legal issues.
- Accelerated benefit, which is a cash advance for employees diagnosed with a terminal illness. Employees have used it to pay off a family’s mortgage, start a college tuition saving account, pay medical bills not covered by health insurance and even take that one last dream vacation.
At its core, life insurance is a fundamental benefit to protect a family’s financial future. When coupled with value-added services, families can become even more prepared before they are faced with a loss.
How Employers Can Take Action
Employers play an important role in proactively communicating with their employees about the options that are available. Employers can help reduce employee stress with ongoing benefits education that enables them to take positive action and plan ahead.
Fortunately, there is an abundance of material available from benefit vendors and other industry sources that employers can provide to employees. And there are variety of avenues to deliver it. The employee intranet and/or company newsletter are excellent communications vehicles for informative blogs, articles and easy-to-understand FAQs. Employers also can work with vendors to host interactive online webinars to give employees a clear understanding of the support and services they may need someday.
When employers stay on top of their employees’ needs and understand the benefits available, they can be ready to pitch in with timely paperwork and other documentation needed to ease the process.
Brought to you by The Hartford. The content displayed is for information only and does not constitute an endorsement by, or represent the view of, The Hartford.
Information and links from this article are provided for your convenience only. Neither references to third parties, nor the provision of any link imply an endorsement or association between The Hartford and the third party or non-Hartford site, respectively. The Hartford is not responsible for and makes no representation or warranty regarding the contents, completeness, accuracy or security of any material within this article or on such sites. Your use of information and access to such non-Hartford sites is at your own risk. You should always consult a professional.
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG) operates through its subsidiaries, under the brand name, The Hartford, and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. For additional details, please read The Hartford’s legal notice at www.thehartford.com.
