As the UK’s leading provider of group protection, we want to lead the way forward in providing the support services today’s workforce needs. Recognising the changing nature of how employees want to access support, we’re excited to announce that we’ve significantly invested in our support services to provide a stronger range of benefits for our customers. We believe these changes make our support services clearer, more relevant and more accessible than ever before.
Rest assured, the switch to our new services will be seamless. All existing contact details and phone numbers will continue to work, so there’s no need to worry about changing access details. We know that employees may need extra support at this difficult time. They’ll still be able to access our services for immediate support using existing contact information.
Introducing WeCare
In response to evolving demand and great customer feedback, we’re excited to announce that our new support service, WeCare, will now be available with every Group Income Protection policy from 1 March 2021.
WeCare offers an extensive range of online services supporting medical, mental, legal and financial wellbeing. This includes access to 24/7 online GP consultations, mental health counselling, burnout prevention, diet support, financial guidance and much more. Through WeCare, we can now provide:
- Clarity of journey, by bringing all services under one roof, we’re providing a single contact point for employees and family members to access all services
- Accessibility, through a choice of access points (phone, email, web, app) customers can select their preferred method, at a time that suits them and their family
- Quality of contact, from outset a WeCare service user can choose to have direct access to healthcare professionals
Alongside this, the services provided by EmployeeCare, our Employee Assistance Programme, will be replaced by WeCare. We’ve been listening to our advisers and customers and we’ve recognised that the needs of today’s employees are changing. WeCare provides a modern, online solution that will give employees greater choice over the support they receive, whenever they need it.
What’s changing?
On 1 March 2021:
- WeCare becomes available to every Group Income Protection customer, providing access to 24/7 online GP consultations, mental health counselling and much more. Our new support service can be used by all employees, whether insured or not, as well as their immediate family members.
- WeCare will be enhanced with legal and financial guidance, information and support, available to all new and existing WeCare users. This new support provides access to specialist guidance on a range of issues, from budgeting and financial education, to property law and consumer disputes.
- Our Bereavement Counselling and Probate Helpline services will transfer to our partner Teladoc Health, provider of WeCare.
- Our Employee Assistance Programme (EmployeeCare) is replaced by WeCare on all Group Income Protection policies.
On 1 February 2021:
- BusinessCare, which is currently included with all CLASS and Group Income Protection policies, will no longer be available.
Why WeCare?
Since launching WeCare in April 2020, we’ve spent a lot of time listening to our advisers and customers. The feedback about WeCare has been incredibly positive and we’ve seen an impressive response in terms of usage. We’ve recognised the changing nature of how people want to access support and we believe WeCare is the answer to this.
Through WeCare, we now have a range of high-quality online services all available through a single access point. Following the launch to our CLASS customers this year, we’re excited to offer this service to our Group Income Protection customers and look forward to hearing your feedback.
What does WeCare provide?
WeCare offers a range of online services that specialise in medical, mental, legal and financial wellbeing. It offers confidential access to thousands of experts, all from the comfort of an employee’s home, including:
- 24/7 access to a UK-based GP through a video or phone call, with no usage limitations
- Private prescriptions delivered to employees’ front doors
- Expert second opinions on almost any condition or diagnosis, from one of 50,000 leading consultants worldwide
- Up to 10 mental health counselling sessions with qualified mental health practitioners including psychologists and psychotherapists
- Burnout prevention support
- Life events counselling
- Personalised diet and nutrition support with qualified nutritionists
- Dedicated support to quit smoking
- Legal and financial guidance on a wide range of issues
Visit our WeCare page to find out more about the extensive range of services available.
Why are you replacing your Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) with WeCare?
Lifeworks, our EAP provider, have offered fantastic support and service to our customers over the years, but we’ve recognised that the needs of today’s employees are changing. With a range of high-quality online services, all accessible through a single access point, we believe WeCare offers a more compelling proposition that more employees will access when they need support.
What will happen to perks and the LifeWorks dashboard?
If an organisation has signed up for perks, they will still have access to the LifeWorks dashboard and employees will retain access to perks via the LifeWorks app.
Why are you changing the availability of BusinessCare?
We’re committed to delivering high-quality services that are regularly used and valued by our customers. BusinessCare has been a great support service for our customers over the past 14 years. As times have changed, so have our customers’ needs and we felt it was the right time to bring this service to an end.
We recommend that employers save any documents produced through BusinessCare before the service ends on 1 February 2021. Any documents that have not been saved will be lost.
We want to thank Epoq for their partnership and support for our customers.
Why are you transferring the Bereavement Counselling and Probate Helpline services to Teladoc Health?
The transfer of our Bereavement Counselling and Probate Helpline services to Teladoc Health, means that all services will be under one roof. This provides a clear and concise single contact point for employees to access all services, at a time that suits them.
How do Group Income Protection customers gain access to WeCare?
We’ll be issuing more information on this in the coming weeks, but the process is incredibly straight-forward. Through their adviser or account manager, employers will be given an access code, which their employees can use to access the WeCare services and app. Group Income Protection customers can start using this service from 1 March 2021.
Find out more on our WeCare page.
Will phone numbers and access details change as a result of these changes?
The switch will be seamless. All existing phone numbers will continue to work after 1 March 2021 and existing homepages will be diverted to new services where applicable:
- The current EmployeeCare number will automatically divert to the WeCare helpline
- The current Bereavement Counselling and Probate Helpline numbers will be automatically transferred to Teladoc Health
- The EmployeeCare homepage will be automatically diverted to the WeCare homepage
What happens if an employee is receiving counselling through the EAP and it’s not complete before 1 March 2020?
Any counselling that has been started will continue until the employee has received the agreed amount of counselling sessions.
Will CLASS customers still have access to WeCare?
WeCare remains available to all our CLASS customers, no matter what policy they have.
New documents
Ahead of the changes, we’ve included some links to key documents so you can start sharing this news. These documents are only effective from 1 March 2021.
WeCare
Group Income Protection
- Introduction to Group Income Protection
- Product Summary
- Group Income Protection Support Services Summary
Group Life Insurance
Please share this news with your clients
To help advisers communicate these changes, we’ve prepared some sample wording you can use:
- Group Income Protection Template
- Group Life Insurance Template
- CLASS Group Income Protection Template
- CLASS Group Life Insurance Template
- CLASS Group Critical Illness Template
As we approach 1 March 2021, we'll provide more literature to help you communicate these changes.
If you have any questions or feedback about these changes, please get in touch with your account manager or call us on 0345 223 8000.