Group Personal Accident and Travel

Your duty of care to your employees rests wherever they lay their briefcase, tools or computer, when working for you ‘on the road’. Although many employers have reduced the hours employees spend travelling for businesses since the pandemic, particularly with the boom in online conferencing, business travel is gradually re-emerging. It is often irreplaceable in business negotiations, in which trust has to be built through face-toface contact.

Consequently, employers need to seriously consider what support and crisis protection is in place for employees whose role involves travel. Even in the UK, travel can be fraught with issues. Road traffic accidents are one of the most likely incidents to befall an employee, while cyber-related crime is also a growing risk.

Overseas, we witnessed tremendous political instability in 2022 – from Peru to the Ukraine – plus a continuing global health emergency and devastating weather events. Add in the recent Turkish earthquakes and the international terrorism that ruled headlines prepandemic, and the world still looks to be a dangerous place.

Employees stepping out on work duties overseas face these major risks and many more – everything from having computers, possessions, and passports stolen, to being kidnapped. They always run the risk of being stranded in a country from which they need to be rapidly extricated, but are also often operating in countries where there are unknown health risks at home.

Without the right insurance backup, helplines, emergency support, and interpretation and repatriation services, it is unlikely the majority of employers could afford to give an employee the right support in a medical emergency or have the know-how to manage situations.

Arranging emergency flights, finding safe alternative accommodation, getting emergency cash into employees’ hands, or paying ransoms are likely to be things the average employer could not do.

The good news is that they would not need to, if they took out a Group Personal Accident and Travel (GPAT) policy. This offers two advantageous aspects of cover – protecting an employee should they be injured whilst performing work duties at home or abroad, and ensuring they had levels of travel backup when required, if needing help overseas, as defined in your GPAT policy.

No company should be relying on the Foreign Office or an overseas Consulate to protect their employees. Those putting the right protection in place send a signal to top professional talent that they stand apart from other employers.

GPAT insurance offers both the at-event cover required and valuable pre-travel risk advice and security briefings. With the insurer’s experts’ help, prevention is often better than cure.

Dependent on levels of cover of your GPAT policy, you may also be covered for when you may need cultural etiquette guidance, information on local laws, or help knowing how best to equip your employees before they even step foot in a certain zone – and this policy can be your guide.