Howden Australia expands Group Risk capabilities

Howden Australia expands Group Risk capabilities

Howden has strengthened the capabilities of its Group Risk team, specialising in Group Life & Salary Continuance Insurance, in line with its focus on utilising insurance as a tool to improve the health and wellbeing of an organisation’s workforce.

Lyndall Ridley has joined Howden’s Group Risk team, and together with Chris Sinclair, Nick Kouteris and Kylie Lawrence, bring over 100 years’ experience partnering with employers to address the rising risk of illness and injury, and enhancing their overall employee value proposition.

Lyndall commented, “I am delighted to have joined this market leading team, where unique solutions are built and tailored to clients specific needs, and in an environment where people genuinely do come first.”

The team has been formed to help clients evolve their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) in response to the challenging talent market and to address the impact that rising rates of illness and injury is having on employees and employers.

“We have noticed that the existing offerings in the market were just focused on the insurance product,” said Chris Sinclair, Head of Group Risk. “We identified there was a great opportunity for clients to achieve greater value for their organisation and employees by taking a different approach.”

“Along with the increasing health risk challenges, employers are also dealing with significant changes in the superannuation environment,” he continued. “Insurance in superannuation no longer provides universal and consistent insurance cover for an employer’s workforce, mainly due to the impact of recent legislation including the Your Future, Your Super reforms.”

Furthermore, “the pandemic has hidden the full health impacts people are experiencing, with lower rates of diagnosis recorded for severe illnesses such as cancer. As a result, more and more employers are investigating ways in which Salary Continuance Insurance can mitigate against these risks whilst simultaneously enhancing their overall employee proposition at the same time.”

The Howden Group Risk team has a focus on maximising care and protection, while minimising exposure and premium for the long term, in a way that is unique to the Australian market.
“What we have done is challenge the traditional approach by developing a Salary Continuance Insurance product suite aimed at improving the key drivers of claims and costs, namely physical wellbeing, recovery from cancer and mental wellbeing,” said Chris. “Howden has developed specific prevention and intervention solutions backed by research, which are proven to deliver better health outcomes and reduce the longevity of claims, allowing employees to return to life and work sooner.”

Matt Bacon, Howden Pacific CEO, added, “The Group Risk business we have established reflects Howden’s commitment to challenging the market, providing choice and delivering differentiated solutions for clients. The solutions the team has been able to build and deliver to clients in a short period of time is testament to their market leading position.”
Organisations seeking to take a strategic shift in the way they manage their Salary Continuance Insurance should contact Chris, Lyndall, Nick or Kylie, to understand how Howden’s unique approach can deliver lower costs and shift your current program to better support the health and wellbeing of your organisation.