Our Corporate Services

Key Person Cover

Being part of a successful company means overcoming constant challenges. When things go well thanks to the skills and efforts of you and your key team it can be very rewarding. However, if something goes wrong, for example if you or any of your key people die or suffer from a serious illness, the financial security of the business can be compromised.

The death or serious illness of a key person in your company, or business, could also threaten everything you have worked so hard to achieve.

Doesn't it make good business sense to treat it as you would any other risk and put plans in place to help protect the business? What financial solutions could you put in place to protect this eventuality?

Solution: This is driven via an insurance plan which pays the firm a lump sum benefit in the event that the worst happens to one of the controlling directors or key staff members. This can provide a vital financial buffer in the event of an unforeseen event and can protect firms to re-group after a crisis. Key person insurance won't cure a person's illness; however, it will make the financial future of a company far more secure.

Shareholder Protection

The controlling directors of your business are its driving force and the foundations for its success. So, what would happen if one of them were no longer there?

Imagine that the shares of one of your controlling directors ended up in the hands of someone you didn't know and who doesn't know your business. This could be exactly what happens if one of your controlling directors becomes seriously ill or dies - their share in the business could pass to someone else through either sale or inheritance.

Solution: The solution is provided through a plan and a set of agreements which we set up for our clients. It is a legal framework which protects the company in the event a shareholder dies or suffers from a serious illness. By taking out these plans on the life of each of the controlling directors and putting them in trust for all the other controlling directors, they will receive a cash sum when they need it. This can avoid very complex and unpleasant negotiations with families in the event the worst happens.

Group Private Medical Insurance

Attracting and retaining good quality staff in the current environment can present a challenge.

Group Private Medical Insurance is the second most popular employee benefit after a pension*. Given that employers must, by law, provide access to a workplace pension, providing health insurance is one way of differentiating your employment offer from the competition and demonstrates that you care about the health and wellbeing of your employees.

PMI can also demonstrably help manage and reduce staff absence costs and will allow your staff to avoid NHS waiting lists.

* Ellipse - Valued Employee Benefits Research report 2017

Relevant Life Cover

Relevant Life Cover is an extremely tax efficient way of providing life insurance for staff members (including salaried directors) without setting up a death in service scheme.

Premiums are treated as a business expense and qualify for corporation tax relief however these are not regarded as a benefit in kind (P11D) in the hands of the employee.

In the event of a claim the benefits are generally paid free of tax and are not assessable for Inheritance Tax.

Group Death in Service Cover

Businesses today operate in a much more competitive environment and are increasingly under pressure to perform. Recruitment and retention of good staff is essential to business growth and a fundamental issue for most employers.

No longer are annual salary and a company car the prime consideration for good quality staff. More and more, potential employees take account of the overall benefits package on offer, including Pensions, Healthcare and Life Assurance benefits.

A comprehensive benefits package can be a useful aid to staff recruitment and retention nd in this respect, group life assurance cover, (also known as death in service cover), can be a valuable and cost-effective component part of this package.

Group life assurance cover is usually designed to pay a lump sum benefit on the death of an employee of the sponsoring employer. Suitable schemes can benefit from the following tax privileges:

• Premiums paid for the scheme by the employer are treated as a trading expense for the purpose of corporation tax relief.
• The premiums paid by the employer are not treated as a taxable benefit on the employee and do not attract any additional National Insurance liability on either the employee or the employer.
• Lump sums paid on death will normally be free of any inheritance tax.