Hi all,
The public sector union Forsa have announced a new unified Salary Protection Scheme (75% of salary, dovetailed with decreasing sick pay) to replace the four schemes which were legacy from before the consolidated union was formed in 2018. The new scheme has specified illness cover (25% of salary) and death benefit (twice annual salary) integrated also, along with a number of ancillary benefits such as access to an online doctor for prescriptions and sick certs, and a will writing service. It is underwritten by New Ireland Assurance.
The new scheme has a headline cost of 1.99% gross salary, broken down to 1.44% disability benefit, 0.32% death benefit, 0.18% specified illness, 0.05% medical immunity benefit. I'm going to ignore tax relief for the sake of simplicity. Existing scheme members will be given the benefit of opting out of the additional benefits later this year if they prefer.
Further details can be found here, hopefully you can view:
My question is this - on my previous scheme it was .99% for just salary protection/disability benefit, and now it's 1.44% ,which means an almost 50% increase in this cost and only a a few fringe new benefits like the online doctor service, does this seem reasonable? I've heard these public service schemes tend to be quite good given the sheer volume of members but a 50% increase seems a lot, even if the figures are low in absolute terms. I can appreciate the advantage of the union offering a single integrated product to maximise benefits for members and for simplicity sake, but surely consolidation should have led to a cheaper product.
My old scheme was previously with Aviva who appear to be the most reliable when it come to paying out, based on advice of posters on here, whereas now it is with New Ireland, would this be a matter of concern?
I've only had a cursory look through the initial document so happy to be corrected if I have missed anything.
The public sector union Forsa have announced a new unified Salary Protection Scheme (75% of salary, dovetailed with decreasing sick pay) to replace the four schemes which were legacy from before the consolidated union was formed in 2018. The new scheme has specified illness cover (25% of salary) and death benefit (twice annual salary) integrated also, along with a number of ancillary benefits such as access to an online doctor for prescriptions and sick certs, and a will writing service. It is underwritten by New Ireland Assurance.
The new scheme has a headline cost of 1.99% gross salary, broken down to 1.44% disability benefit, 0.32% death benefit, 0.18% specified illness, 0.05% medical immunity benefit. I'm going to ignore tax relief for the sake of simplicity. Existing scheme members will be given the benefit of opting out of the additional benefits later this year if they prefer.
Further details can be found here, hopefully you can view:
New Fórsa salary protection scheme launched
A new 80,000-member strong salary protection scheme was launched on 1st June. The culmination of two years of work and packed with new benefits, the Fórsa Salary Protection Scheme offers Fórsa members and their families a financial safety net if they suffer ill health or death.
forsatradeunion.newsweaver.com
My question is this - on my previous scheme it was .99% for just salary protection/disability benefit, and now it's 1.44% ,which means an almost 50% increase in this cost and only a a few fringe new benefits like the online doctor service, does this seem reasonable? I've heard these public service schemes tend to be quite good given the sheer volume of members but a 50% increase seems a lot, even if the figures are low in absolute terms. I can appreciate the advantage of the union offering a single integrated product to maximise benefits for members and for simplicity sake, but surely consolidation should have led to a cheaper product.
My old scheme was previously with Aviva who appear to be the most reliable when it come to paying out, based on advice of posters on here, whereas now it is with New Ireland, would this be a matter of concern?
I've only had a cursory look through the initial document so happy to be corrected if I have missed anything.