Wednesday 1 October 2014

When was the last time you looked at your work’s Group Benefits plan?

If you are an employee of a small, medium or large company, you are probably a part of a group benefits plan through your place of work. Many people seem to think they have proper insurance coverage through their workplace, only to find out they are severely underinsured at a time they need it the most.
Group benefit plans or group insurance plans are a great way for an employer to reward their employees and make sure they stay loyal to the company. It is a way of saying thank you and to help provide the employee with additional benefits that go beyond the classic paycheck or bonus.

When it comes to the life insurance and disability insurance components, many employees are not well versed with their local group benefit plans which in most cases contains very limited amounts of insurance. Because there is no medical underwriting required for group members to be insured, the maximum insurance amounts are often fairly low as the insurance company can't offer large amounts without individually underwriting the members.

Its extremely important to check your group insurance policy and understand what type of insurance coverage you are eligible for. Some group insurance plans offer an “top-up” where employees can individually apply for additional insurance although in most cases that will require the employee to go through underwriting which in some cases (depending on the amount) may require a full medical exam.

Another important factor to consider when thinking about your group insurance plan is the fact that it only covers you while you are actively employed with your company. This factor is extremely important to consider when going through your finances and insurance planning. If you are between jobs and something happens to you, you will not be eligible for any coverage.

Group insurance should always be considered as an extra benefit and not as a solid part of your insurance planning. As you are going through your financial and insurance plan, make sure to keep your group insurance plan out of your overall insurance coverage.

The best way to make sure you are properly covered is by going through a proper needs analysis with a licensed insurance advisor and purchase a personally owned insurance policy that will stay in effect regardless of your employment status.

For more information please contact Independent Financial Concepts Group today at 1-416-849-1653 or visit www.wecoveryou.ca

1 comment:

  1. My boss is thinking about offering group insurance to his employees. He's asked me to help him look at different group benefit plans and I'm really excited. I know a lot of us could really use the insurance.

    Susan Hirst | http://www.laprescali.com/surety/

    ReplyDelete