First Actuarial and Legal & General launch affordable employee benefits for SMEs
26 March 2025
First Actuarial has teamed up with Legal & General to offer a cost-effective package of group protection employee benefits for small and medium enterprises (SME).
The package puts popular benefits such as life assurance and income protection within the typical budget of businesses employing up to thirty staff.
David Parfett, Co-Head of Employee Benefits at First Actuarial, says: “SMEs often find themselves priced out of the employee benefit market. It’s hard for them to compete for job seekers against larger employers and their shiny benefit platforms. But without recruiting and retaining skilled people, they can’t grow their businesses.
For a modest cost, this new group protection package provides life assurance and income protection for SME employees. It includes features which are usually unavailable with smaller policies. First Actuarial can also arrange critical illness protection as an add-on policy.
David explains: “The cost can be as little as 1% of salary costs, making it an affordable employee benefit with additional wellbeing services included. Our package also gives employers a higher free cover level – at which cover can be provided without the need for medical underwriting – than would typically be available if they applied directly to an insurer.”
Like all group protection schemes, the arrangement offers additional wellbeing services – such as a digital GP – at no extra cost. These can prove particularly valuable in smaller organisations, helping them build out their health and wellbeing provision.
Suzie Nedza, Employee Benefits Consultant at First Actuarial, says: “Of the insurers we looked to partner with, Legal & General offered attractive terms and competitive pricing. They’re a well-known brand and their knowledge of the SME market is impressively broad. They made it clear how keen they were to work with us from the outset. They worked flexibly with us in developing an arrangement that would work for us and our SME clients.”
First Actuarial is not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but we are able in certain circumstances to offer a limited range of investment services to clients because we are licensed by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide.