Group Life Assurance
Overview
Death in service
Group Life Assurance (also called Death in Service) is low cost and one of the most popular and commonly provided benefits. It pays a tax-free lump sum if an employee dies, to provide support for the people who depend on them financially. The lump sum is normally based on a multiple of the employee’s salary.
Nobody wants to contemplate the loss of a loved one, but it can happen and as an employer, you can add real value to your employees by supporting them and their families with this benefit.
Key features include:
- Under current UK tax laws, your premiums can normally qualify as an allowable business expense.
- A more competitive and attractive benefits package can help you recruit and keep the right staff.
- Eligible claims, which usually fall outside of probate, can be paid quickly.
- The lump-sum payment doesn’t usually form part of a member’s estate, so should be free of inheritance tax.
- Not classed as a ‘benefit in kind’ for employees.
- Tax-free payment when written in trust.
- Bereavement and employee assistance helplines usually available at no additional cost.
Advice areas
Our team
Meet our dedicated Employee Benefits team, who bring many years of experience to help meet the needs of your employees.
Joseph Warne has more than 17 years’ experience in pensions and employee benefits starting at KPMG before moving to PwC and finally Mercer before taking up his position at Pareto Financial Planning.Joseph specialises in corporate pensions and employee benefits, partnering with companies to design and manage sustainable pension and employee benefit strategies. He supports small SMEs up to large multinationals and once helped a company based in the North West save over £300,000 pa by implementing pension salary exchange.Outside of work he likes spending time with his family as well as both playing and watching most sports.
Nathan began his career in the Financial Services industry in 2017, and has since worked in banking, wealth management and now the provision of corporate pensions and employee benefits.Nathan joined Pareto in 2024 and relocated to Manchester for his new role. He works alongside the employee benefit team to help support a range of clients, spanning across small SMEs, large multinational firms and everything in between. He specialises in aiding and supporting these firms to design, develop and implement employee benefit strategies.Outside of work, Nathan enjoys playing football, watching sports, and working on his (often broken!) cars.
Marc joined Pareto in August 2024. He has spent the last 5 years in financial services predominantly managing and advising on employee benefit design, implementation, communication and review of online platforms.Outside of work Marc is a professional club DJ and also hosts a weekly Saturday night underground dance radio show. He also volunteers at BPM REHAB (a DJ school for young adults learning to DJ as part of their rehabilitation) and also ‘Accessible Festival’ each year (a Glastonbury style festival focused around children with disabilities).
Alan has been advising corporate clients since 1992. Alan seeks to understand the business: its objectives, values and people strategy and advises on how an employee benefits strategy can support these. Advising on the design, implementation, communication and review of effective employee benefits. Alan prides himself on providing a high level of service to his clients and this has resulted in loyal client relationships. Specialities: Pension Auto Enrolment, Scheme Governance, Salary Sacrifice, Group Life Assurance, Group Income Protection, Private Medical Insurance, Health and Wellbeing, Benchmarking, Communication.
Tom has worked within Employee Benefits since 2006, starting as an EB administrator. He later progressed to an Employee Benefits Adviser with Pareto in 2019. The experience gained within the various roles have helped him develop an in-depth knowledge of Pension Auto-Enrolment, Group Life Assurance, Group Income Protection, Private Medical Insurance and Pension Scheme Governance.
Zoe joined Pareto in January 2022 after training to become a teacher, she taught Religious Education. Previously, she worked as a Data Entry Clerk at a fruit and veg wholesaler in Gorton before joining the IO team here. And now just recently joined the Employee Benefits team and is really enjoying it!She enjoyed working in Data Entry and wanting to find something similar- and the papercloud cleansing job seemed to fit that well and she enjoyed doing it.Outside of work Zoe enjoy taking her dog out on walks, doing plenty of reading and spending time with family.
Evette has a BA Honours European Studies with Spanish from MMU. She has spent the last 10 years in Financial services predominantly managing health trusts, Pension administration and employee benefits administration – group risk and PMI. She joined Pareto in 2023 as an Employee Benefits AdministratorIn her spare time she does Crossfit & Olympic Lifting, spending time with her dogs & Family, and going on country walks & paddle boarding.
After graduating with a degree in Cultural Studies in 1999 Karen began her career in Employee Benefits at well-known corporate providers, specialising in Private Medical Insurance and Group Risk before moving into personal finance administration working at both small and large IFA practices within Cheshire and progressing to management level.Joining Pareto in January 2023 she supports Operations Director Nicky Aspray with the management of the administration functions within the business. She is responsible for ensuring the business has robust processes and systems in place that deliver positive client outcomes. People matter and Karen is passionate about promoting the values of Pareto to foster a happy working environment for the teams which she believes then goes hand in hand with delivering great client experiences.Outside of work Karen enjoys spending time out and about in the fresh air with her family and two whippets, reading, baking and getting out for a run when she can.
Our advice process
1. Consult
We listen and build solutions based on your needs. We aim to understand: your objectives, budgets, what will work for your business, employees and we will review what you currently have in place for relevance, compliance and cost efficiency.
2. Design & Select
We will advise on the right strategy in line with your circumstances and select a
solution from a wide range of providers/products based on our research.
3. Implement
Once the solution has been agreed, we will ensure benefits are put in place. Our experienced team will fully implement basic or sophisticated benefits schemes to reduce the impact on you.
4. Communicate
An employee benefits scheme that is not communicated and understood is of little value. We will communicate with your employees to support their understanding of benefits you offer using suitable methods (written / online / group / individual face to face). We provide financial education in the workplace linking this to the benefits you offer.
5. Review
We offer ongoing support and governance to ensure all benefits remain compliant, relevant and cost effective.
