Zurich has announced that it is offering over three million life protection customers access to its human-led digital bereavement support service, Empathy, at no extra cost, in the face of what it describes as a "loss support crisis."
The move comes as Zurich aims to expand its customer support and its empathy-led approach, intended to move beyond traditional insurance cover to supporting customers through life’s hardest moments.
From today, retail protection customers and employees of corporate risk customers will have access to personalised care plans, dedicated care managers for personalised guidance and secure digital tools to help manage the emotional and practical pressures that follow the death of their loved one. From June, this will be expanded to those who are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
On average, families using the service save 148 hours of administrative work and around £2,319 in costs for tasks such as probate and estate administration, funeral logistics or closing digital accounts and subscriptions.
Later this year, retail protection customers will also have access to Zurich LifeVault, a secure digital platform that helps people plan for their legacy, create wills and organise essential information.
In addition, the new service will enable families to preserve and store meaningful memories, from precious photos to family recipes. Access to the Empathy Loss Support service will also be expanded to support customers with the loss of a loved one.
These services sit alongside Zurich’s existing support services and will also be available to all advisers who are registered with Zurich.
The initiative responds to findings from Zurich’s global "Addressing the Empathy Gap" study, showing that consumers increasingly expect compassionate, practical help during life’s most difficult moments. Empathy’s Cost of Loss report also highlights a growing "loss support crisis" in the UK, with a third of bereaved people taking time off work to manage administrative tasks and many feeling unsupported during the claims process (33%).
Compassion is fast becoming the key differentiator for consumers. Empathy’s "The Cost of Loss: The UK’s Bereavement Burden" research found that over half of people say they would choose an insurer based on bereavement support (57%) and 92% prioritise employers that offer it, with nearly half willing to leave a job if they felt unsupported after a loss (48%).
"Addressing the Empathy Gap" also found that, of the 11,500 consumers surveyed, 43% had left a brand due to a lack of compassion, while 73% would avoid companies that fail to show empathy.
In 2025, Zurich placed empathy at the centre of its global customer strategy, influencing product design, employee training and how the business supports brokers and customers. Since 2023, over 50,000 hours of empathy training have been delivered through Zurich’s Global Empathy Training Program to help employees respond with emotional intelligence in moments of vulnerability.
To support the launch of Empathy Loss Support, UK-based claims handlers and protection consultants will receive 60 hours of specialist bereavement training. Following the UK launch, Zurich intends to expand Empathy Loss Support to other markets as part of a global rollout strategy.
"When it comes to loss and bereavement, grief is just the beginning," Louise Colley, managing director at Zurich UK, said. "There are funeral logistics, probate and estate administration, digital accounts to close and more when your life has just been turned upside down. Empathy’s services will provide our customers with the human care and digital tools to manage all this and more, so that people don’t feel forced to move on but really helped to move forward.
"At Zurich, empathy isn’t just a skill but a cornerstone of our business, and our partnership with Empathy is a continuation of our commitment to this. The nature of insurance means that we help people at some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives, so listening, understanding and supporting people is always at the heart of everything we do. With over half of UK adults without a valid will and rising care demands being felt across the country, this strengthens our proposition to win in the market."
James Tait, managing director of corporate protection at Zurich UK, added: "The inclusion of Empathy Loss Support in our offering will help our corporate risk customers to support their employees with compassion and care at arguably the most difficult time of their lives. These resources and care systems ensure employees feel understood and supported, while fostering a caring workplace culture.
"For employers, investing in bereavement services demonstrates a commitment to employee welfare while strengthening engagement and resilience across the whole company, which we know is a priority for our customers."
Ron Gura, co-founder & CEO of Empathy, commented: "Partnering with Zurich is a significant milestone in our mission to transform the way families navigate life’s most challenging moments, from loss and bereavement to the many complexities that follow. Bringing that support to millions of families across the UK at the scale this partnership makes possible is something we’re incredibly proud of. This is what meaningful, compassionate care looks like in practice."
