Healthcare and Employee Benefit Trusts

Making sure members get the right benefits at the right time and in accordance with the rules of the trust is central to all aspects of our independent and professional approach to trusteeship.

Our Professional Healthcare Trustee Service

Whether you are looking to put in place or review your existing healthcare or employee benefit trust our professional trustees can add value and ensure independent governance of your scheme which facilitates fairness and equity. This enables an employer to adopt a consistent approach to claims management . Helping to distance the HR function from potentially conflict and possible difficult situations

We are seeing an increasing number of employers putting in place their own healthcare trusts for a variety of reasons:

The employer saves money by using a corporate healthcare trust instead of providing a conventional insurance scheme because they do not have to fund the insurers profit margin.
In effect the employer is self-insuring thereby having control over the benefit structure
There are significant tax advantages in being able to avoid paying Insurance Premium Tax –currently 12%. Creating considerable employer savings

As a professional trustee we will provide advice to the employer on market developments, suggest plan amendments and assist in providing timely, accurate and meaningful communications to members’ thereby underpinning the employee value proposition

Adding value as a professional trustee

Strong Financial Controls

Continuous ongoing review of the financials by the Trustee enables the employer to maximise cash-flow, delivering strong cost-efficiency for the employer. The responsibility and accountability of the professional trustee ensures the scheme is established and maintained to the highest standard, with appropriate funding at all stages to meet claim liabilities. Through this process employers are able to maximise any surplus funds in the trust, enabling robust financial control.

Robust Governance

We enable an independent objective and consistent approach in all activities requiring discretion and judgement. This ensures good governance and compliance taking account of legal, audit, tax and communication considerations. This includes providing professional advice and guidance on the benefit structure, assessing and evaluating claims against best practice and Trust Terms & Conditions

Tailored to your members

We will work with the benefit providers to ensure the scheme is completely aligned to the requirements of the employer. Our support includes the establishment and maintenance of the scheme- for example overseeing the drafting of rules, eligibility, tax and legal compliance. We will conduct provider reviews to ensure competent and effective scheme management is maintained to ensure the employer and employees receive the best in market bespoke solutions.

Professional trustees can add an independent and robust governance overview to a wide range of trust bodies. As well as acting in a professional capacity some of our trustees are actively engaged in a personal capacity within the charitable sector.