"We’re always excited to see Unum UK innovate. Its new claims portal makes managing claims so much easier, freeing up admin time to focus more on our people."
- Spokesperson from pilot participant, AECOM
Following a successful pilot with fourteen large clients across various industries, Unum UK has announced that its new service will be available to all clients with over 1k insured employees from the 1st January 2025.
Unum UK’s new service simplifies the claims process for employers, providing them with the tools needed to submit claims and rehabilitation referrals. It offers tracking capacities via its dashboard.
Speaking exclusively with Protection Reporter, Paula Coffey, Director of Claims, Rehabilitation & Medical Services at Unum UK, said it’s important that “we’re seen as not only trusted but also innovative. Therefore, we’ve spent the last twelve months piloting our online claims & rehabilitation capabilities for employers.
“Employers can submit claims and referrals to us online, and then track progress on a case-by-case basis. On-demand, at any time, employers can log in and see what’s happening to understand the next step in the process.
“Chatting with line managers & HR departments, the majority said they struggle for time. Our dashboard lets you see how many claims have been submitted, and the next steps – removing administrative barriers.
“We asked pilot participants what’s working, shortcomings, and how we can make the platform more impactful. Feedback will continue to be pivotal for enhancements moving forward.”
Paula believes these services must add value for Unum UK’s clients. “There’s been strong early adoption with eight in ten of the claims made during the pilot period managed online. Achieving that 80% adaptation rate at this stage is a significant milestone,” she said.
“Launching this dashboard has been one of the most exciting projects I’ve been involved with, truly collaborative. We’re excited to roll it out to our larger clients, that’s our next phase before we begin to enhance the platform to add value for smaller employers too.”
When asked how soon Unum UK expects to roll out to smaller employers, Paula confirmed that the team is looking at which services would be meaningful to these businesses. “You don’t have as many claims filed, so we want to guarantee these employers can see value. I don’t know when those enhancements will be made, but it’s something we’re working on,” she explained.
“This is innovation, not just for the sake of ‘we’ve done this’ and gone to market. What we’ve developed puts clients' needs above all else.”
During development, Unum UK knew the dashboard couldn't be cluttered with insurance jargon that employers don’t understand - relevant language was used instead. Examples include: ‘medical evidence’ replaced with ‘medical information’; ‘notified’ or ‘incepted’ replaced with ‘submitted’; and ‘material and substantial duties’ replaced with ‘daily duties and essential skills required’.
Furthermore, Unum UK has introduced a ‘Get Help’ function designed to assist clients if they encounter a task or question that they need more clarity on.
“Medical evidence, it sounds much too severe.”
Although this service operates online, Unum UK didn’t want customers to have no human point of contact; “It’s not that we’ve gone digital, you won’t ever speak to anyone.” Paula explained that when a claim is received, someone from Unum UK will contact the employee and ask for medical information, whilst gaining an understanding of potential barriers to returning to work. This is also an opportunity to discuss what added-value services are available to them as it could be that they’re waiting for counselling or physiotherapy. "Having those conversations means we can signpost customers more efficiently,” she added.
Discussing permission-related concerns from pilot participants, Paula said everyone was worried but that was useful as “it made us think, what would our requirements be? Piloting with organisations that have high levels of security has ensured our data security is effective.” Moreover, she highlighted that several were reassured that the dashboard doesn’t hold medical information.
“It’s the process not the problem we’re sharing with employers tracking claims & referrals.”
It's important to note that only individuals who have been assigned to monitor claims & referrals can see ongoing cases. Unum UK talks about assigning monitors during the onboarding process.
“This marks the next exciting step in our digital evolution, empowering employers with self-service tools while enabling our teams to continue delivering excellent customer experiences,” Paula concluded.
