One-fifth (19 per cent) of Aviva Group Income Protection claims in 2023 related to mental ill-health.
The firm found mental health concerns were second only to cancer, which accounted for 24 per cent of Aviva’s income protection claims.
Aviva Group Protection insight and wellbeing manager, Sophie Mairs, said: “It’s clear that claims for mental health are increasing but mental health isn’t a new concern.
“Over the past few years, we’ve enhanced our wellbeing support and built our claims management capabilities in this area.”
Additionally, over 30,423 contacts were made to the EAP service for counselling support, nearly half (48 per cent) of which were related to personal emotional wellbeing.
This represented an increase on the 43 per cent that was recorded in 2022.
Moreover, nearly seven in 10 (69 per cent) of the 10,743 mental health consultations booked through the Aviva DigiCare+ and Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace apps were made by employees covered on a group protection product with all consultations offered within 48 hours.
Anxiety, depression, and stress topped the list of mental health concerns for people using the service.
Employee and employer
It was also reported that, last year, there was a 19 per cent uplift in the number of employers asking for support for employees’ mental health compared to 2022.
Half of all cases referred for rehabilitation support were for mental health.
Employees were also found to be actively using the added-value support available with their group income protection to help them work through their concerns and talk about the issues they were facing, which Aviva described as “reassuring”.
“Our wellbeing support is empowering employees to manage their own mental health and enabling them to quickly access support when they need it most,” Mairs said.
“When more support is needed, specialist services such as our mental health pathway really helps employees’ rehabilitation.
“Almost nine in 10 employees completing mental health rehabilitation via our Group Income Protection last year successfully returned to - or remained at work and, of these, 96 per cent returned to work within the scheme deferred period.”
Aviva also pointed out that, through initiatives, including a line manager toolkit and mental health training sessions tailored for SME or corporate audiences, the group has extended its support past the employee to those who support employees at work.
Last year, Aviva delivered 98 mental health training sessions, reaching 10,528 employees and employers.
Employers who attended the mental health training sessions reported a significant increase in confidence when it came to managing mental health in the workplace.
Mairs added that Aviva’s mental health training “went from strength to strength” in 2023, with record numbers attending, and engagement with the content in its line manager toolkit “continuing to be strong”.
“Employers play a crucial role when it comes to spotting the signs of mental ill-health and managing mental health concerns in the workplace,” she explained.
“Therefore, it’s great to see that there’s a real appetite to improve their understanding of mental health and their confidence when supporting employees.”
