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Colonial Supplemental Insurance is a market leader in providing voluntary insurance to employees and their families through the workplace, along with personal benefits communication, enrollment capabilities and a commitment to service. Here Mary Milling, VP of Marketing, tells HRM how supplemental insurance can help reduce costs and increase employee satisfaction.

HRM. Why is supplemental insurance a good solution for employers today?
MM. Today’s employers have typically faced explosive transition in recent years with pressure to reduce costs, rapid technological advances and a changing work force. Today’s employees are more diverse demographically, better educated and more interested in making their own benefits decisions.

Supplemental insurance like that provided by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company offers employers a way to control benefits costs and meet employee needs. Although these may seem like contradictory goals, supplemental insurance — benefits that are offered at the worksite, but selected and paid for by employees — offer an effective way to achieve both. Not only that, our benefits communication and enrollment capabilities will help ensure employees understand and value the investment you make in them. That leads to a stronger partnership between you and your staff, creating improved morale, less turnover and higher productivity.

HRM. What kind of employees are most likely to need supplemental insurance?
MM. Your staff probably ranges from new high school graduates to 30-plus-year veterans. They are single, married, divorced; on their own for the first time, raising kids or caring for elderly parents. One-size-fits-all benefits packages don’t meet their needs, and those needs change over time. One thing they probably do have in common is they are less prepared than ever for unexpected expenses from an accident or illness, and they don’t have adequate life insurance protection. According to a 2005 study by the Consumer Federation of America and Visa USA, many families are having trouble saving and live paycheck to paycheck. Among women surveyed, 42 percent have emergency savings of less than US$500, and more than half of women ages 25-34 say they have less than that. Nearly half of all US households either don’t own life insurance and feel they should, or they believe they need more (Facts About Life, LIMRA International, 2005).

By offering supplemental insurance at work, employers can help their employees customize their benefits packages to meet their individual needs. Supplemental coverage we offer includes:

• Disability insurance.
• Accident insurance.
• Life insurance.
• Hospital confinement indemnity insurance.
• Cancer and critical illness insurance.

Employees choose – and pay for – the coverage that meets their individual needs. Most types of insurance can be paid through convenient payroll deduction. Because these are individual products, they’re also portable, so in most cases employees can keep their coverage as long as they continue paying premiums, even if they change jobs or retire.

HRM. You mentioned benefits communication earlier. Why is that important?
MM. Although a good benefits package is critical to helping retain and attract quality employees, benefits are meaningless unless employees understand and appreciate them. Our specially trained, professional representatives can meet with employees in small groups, followed by one-on-one sessions to review each employee’s current benefits, needs and available supplemental coverage. We show employees how their selections will affect their take-home pay, and can even provide customized benefits statements so employees see the actual dollar value of their benefits package. Our representatives are available to meet with employees on different shifts and at different locations – when it’s convenient for them and for your business.

HRM. What kind of enrollment options are available?
MM. Enrolling employees in their benefits each year can be a time-consuming and complicated process. Colonial tailors its services to meet your needs and relieve you of this burden – again, at no direct cost. Our comprehensive set of enrollment tools includes both one-on-one enrollments and options for group, call center and self-enrollments for employees who can’t meet face-to-face. We can help employees enroll using our laptop-based electronic enrollment system either online or offline, paper applications or even call centers in some situations.

HRM. What about later on, when employers have questions or employees need help with their claims?
MM. The difference between great services and great service is more than a letter: you expect the former to open the door, but demand the latter to maintain a long-term relationship. It’s what happens after the initial sale – when it’s time to pay the bill, file a claim or enroll new employees – where that difference is most keenly felt.

Our customers consistently give strong positive feedback on our service. Research conducted by LIMRA International in 2006 shows customers give us high marks for all aspects of our service – from how fast we answer the phone to the accuracy of bills to claims payment.

We’re also the only insurance company I know of that puts its customer service standards in writing and publishes a quarterly report card to show customers how we measured up. To see a copy, just ask your local Colonial representative.

HRM Any last thoughts?
MM. A more competitive benefits package, effectively communicated with a customized enrollment plan, backed by best-in-class service – all at no direct cost to your business – is a win-win solution for employers and their employees. If this sounds like the kind of partnership that would help your business, let us know.

Colonial Supplemental Insurance is the marketing brand of Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. Colonial Supplemental Insurance products are underwritten by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. Similar products, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company.

A subsidiary of UnumProvident Corporation, Colonial is based in Columbia, S.C. and operates in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. “Colonial Supplemental Insurance,” “for what happens next” and the logo, separately and in combination, are registered service marks of Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. All rights reserved.

For more information about Colonial’s products and services or opportunities with the company, call (803) 798-7000 or visit www.coloniallife.com.