Optimal has launched a new group life policy for small businesses, called Simple Group Life. 

It is designed to be simple to understand and simple to apply, with small and micro sized employers in mind.

The application form requires the answer to three basic questions; it provides a quotation within seconds and the policy set-up in less than five minutes. There are no medical questions and no membership data is required to start the policy.

Clients can choose fixed death benefits of £50,000 or £100,000. Cover is available for a minimum of three lives but there is no maximum number of people that can take part in the scheme.  The cost remains the same throughout the year regardless of any new employees joining the business; this means that any new employee immediately benefits from full life assurance the moment they join the company with no increase in premiums for the employer, until the next renewal date.

Optimal’s Simple Group Life is underwritten in conjunction with Holloway Friendly and will be distributed exclusively through adviser firms with a partnership arrangement with Optimal.  The scheme is also supported by a Master Trust.

Nigel Hartley, managing director of Optimal, said: “We have developed Simple Group Life following extensive discussions with the IFA and the Employee Benefit Consultancy community. Well in excess of one million employers are due to reach their auto-enrolment staging date over the next few years, many of these employers currently have no protection – and crucially no financial adviser for their business, which presents a huge opportunity for the adviser community.

“There is an increased focus on employee retention and benefits packages, including death in service, however our research revealed that advisers often find it difficult to engage with their smaller and micro-sized employer clients and find products that are affordable for them. Employers in turn often believe group life to be complex, expensive and burdened by paperwork.  We have used this knowledge to make it as simple as possible to put a policy in place for even the smallest of businesses.

“At Optimal we always look to innovate with our products but also to provide an exemplary service. Simple Group Life is not only a great product, it also fulfils on a service level. It makes the decision making and set up process so much easier for our financial adviser partners looking to provide a benefits package for their clients’ employees.”