All schools should carefully consider the financial benefits of staff absence insurance when planning their budgets. This will enable you to accurately predict your finances without fear of unexpected absence related costs. For more information please check out our staff absence insurance page.

Schools will be aware that the Government have increased the period of time that a member of staff can self-certify their absence, from 7 calendar days up to 28 calendar days. In light of this change, you maybe unable to ask for fitness for work certificates from your absent employees.

As part of our new and improved 2022 policy, we shall mirror the government increase and allow schools to self-certify absences* for up to 20 working days.

No other staff absence insurance provider allows members of staff to self-certify up to 20 working days of absence

Under most insurance policies absences can only be self-certified for 5 working days leaving the school at significant risk of not being able to provide the necessary documentation to make a claim.

Absolutely. We are one of the only providers in the market to offer cover for COVID-19. If you choose COVID-19 cover and one of your insured members of staff tests positive, you can make a claim.

Self-isolation for members of staff showing symptoms of having COVID-19 is covered in our policy.

Yes. Client confidentiality is extremely important to us and we are fully registered under the Data Protection Act. All sensitive claims information is only ever held in the United Kingdom by us and will only ever be used for the purposes of the claim or policy. We do not use external loss adjusters.

You can choose any Daily Benefit up to £300. Your chosen Daily Benefit is paid regardless of whether you choose to use a supply teacher or "self-cover".

You can choose any number of Waiting Days including first day cover (zero Waiting Days) up to 30 days (six weeks, or half a term). Some schools like the security of fewer Waiting Days whilst others are more concerned about long-term absences. We will always be happy to provide multiple quotes to show the costs and savings of different Waiting Days.

Yes. Part-time staff are included and the benefit payable is proportionate to the hours worked.

We look at FTEs based over a week, so the best way to calculate your numbers is to follow our simple equation below, in order to make sure we are covering you for exactly what you need:
Individuals working hours per week divided by the total full time hours per week.
We would recommend using our helpful FTE calculator to check the figures.

We have engaged specialist educational wellbeing providers Smart Clinic to offer our schools the very best occupational health support available. Smart Clinic provide tailored healthcare solutions using a mixture of face-to-face, personal healthcare and digital wellbeing solutions. Together, these create a best-in-class service, ensuring fast, proactive support with effective results. Smart Clinic services are included as part of our client’s insurance premium and include a range of services designed to prevent and manage staff absences. For more information, please see the benefits of Smart Clinic page here.

Yes, we can include cover for maternities that have already been conceived, and for staff that are already absent on maternity leave. Simply tell us when they are returning and how much you would like to receive and we can add them to your quote. We can offer you up to £10,000 for each of your maternity claims, it’s completely up to you.

Yes. Cover is included for pregnancy related absence for the first 34 weeks of the pregnancy. Beyond this, your staff member would usually be expected to take their leave early.

Our quotes show a range of cover levels. Should you so wish, our Policy may be offered as an annually renewable policy. The difference is that continuous policies provide better value in second and subsequent years of cover. Claims continue to be paid over renewal and you are less likely to have claims declined due to pre-existing medical conditions and on-going medical treatment. We include these options to provide greater transparency for schools comparing quotes. Make sure that you know which type of policy you have been quoted for when you compare prices, as annually renewable policies have significantly lower premiums but provide a lower level of cover.

No. Importantly, and unlike some other policies, we do not require any evidence of supply and schools are free to "self-cover". Our policy pays your school when the teachers take qualifying absence. Your cover arrangements are your business – meaning that should you manage the absence without resorting to agency cover, we still pay the claim.

Yes, most policies have exclusions for courses of medical treatment that begin before the policy starts. If an absence is caused by a condition with which your staff member has been suffering and receiving treatment before your policy began, it is likely to be excluded. The advantage of a continuous (rather than annually renewable) policy is that in your second and subsequent years, absences that might otherwise be excluded under this clause would be covered.

A discretionary mutual, commonly known as mutual societies or a funding group, is a form of protection to cover members against a certain event or risk, such as staff absences. However, mutuals such as these are discretionary, where the member only has the right to have their claims considered, and not necessarily paid.

Our policy is a legally binding insurance contract – meaning all claims (which fall within the policy terms and conditions) must be paid.

What’s more, our insurance offers additional layers of financial protection that our schools wouldn’t be entitled to as part of a discretionary mutual.

Members of a discretionary mutual not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, do not have access to the services offered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the event of a complaint or the failure of the mutual society to meet its financial obligations.

In short, no. Under our insurance policy, your school has the contractual right to have all valid claims paid.

Yes. Unlike many other providers we have invested heavily in ensuring your data is secure, as a result our client portal has an SSL encryption certificate giving you peace of mind.

Our policy is underwritten by XL Catlin Insurance Company UK Limited, part of the AXA XL Group. XL Catlin Insurance Company UK Limited has the following financial strength ratings: Standard and Poor's AA-, A.M Best A+. This ensures our policy is one of the most financially secure available.

Yes. Absence Protection is a trading style of Absence Protection Limited and we are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"). You can check this on the FCA Register by visiting the FCA website at www.fca.org.uk/register.

Please be aware that the products and services provided under our occupational health, wellbeing and maternity cover do not fall within the scope of the FCA’s regulated activities and, therefore, are not covered by the regulatory protection afforded to regulated business.

Waiting Days are similar to an excess on a motor policy, and are sometimes known as excess days. It is the number of days someone is absent before a claim will become payable. As with a normal excess the higher the Waiting Days, the lower the premium.

Yes. You can include your non-teaching staff such as administrative staff, support staff and caretakers. You can select a different Daily Benefit from that of your teaching staff, because our policy allows you to list your staff in four different categories and vary the Daily Benefits and Waiting Days for each one. All these things help to make sure your policy is the best possible value for your school.

You can use the website link or if you would prefer, speak to one of our knowledgeable schools team by calling 0800 862 0077.

Yes we certainly can cover for pre-existing conditions, just let us know that this is something you would like to be covered for when we are creating your quote. At APL, we consider a pre-existing condition an absence whereby a member of staff has suffered from the same problem, resulting in more than five days absence, in the 12 months prior to the start of your policy. We don’t include absences such colds and flu as everyone can suffer from these now and again.

We offer three options for Maternity Benefit so that you can opt for the best values for your school:

Maternity cover paid as a daily benefit - this unique option is not available anywhere else in the market. The benefit is paid monthly at 50% of the chosen daily benefit, from the beginning of maternity leave after the waiting day period. This cover is not dependant on the return to work of your employee, which reduces risk and cash flow problems for your school.
Maternity cover paid regardless of the absentee returning to work - this maternity benefit option ensures that if your insured member of staff chooses not to return to work following their maternity absence, your school will still be eligible to claim. This alleviates the financial risk posed by an absentee not returning to work.
Maternity cover paid as a lump sum - this is the standard maternity benefit option offered by most insurers. However, unlike other providers we do not fix the sum for you; Absence Protection allows you to choose any sum up to £10,000 per full-time teacher. The sum is paid when your employee returns to work after her maternity leave. Whats more, this option covers you if staff have conceived up to 90 calendar days before your policy start date.

Please note: If your school only requires maternity cover, lump sum maternity benefit is provided under a separate policy and provider, which means it can be purchased as a standalone product.

Yes, cover for stress related absences can be added to your policy as an additional benefit. A school can choose between our following stress cover options:

Standard stress cover: This provides your school with 30 days of cover for absences which occur as a result of work related stress causes.
Premium stress cover: This provides your school with 190 days of cover for absences which occur as a result of a wide range of stress causes.

Yes. The policy covers long absences, but after 100 working days the Daily Benefit payable reduces by 50% (as your member of staff would be receiving half-pay by this stage of an extended absence).

No. Unlike many other providers we do not exclude chronic conditions and do not impose extra conditions on certain illnesses such as gynaecological complaints, back pain or asthma.

We have our own claims department. Unlike many other providers we do not use outside loss adjusters to settle your claims and all your confidential information remains with us at all times. Our claims department is staffed by an experienced team of professionals and you will be given your own claims manager who will be available to deal with any questions you have. This means that you can build a rapport with the claims assessors managing your policy.

It's easy. You can keep your staff list up to date throughout the year using our secure online Client Area.

If you feel you have cause for complaint this should be addressed to:

The Compliance Officer
8 Brunel Court,
Gadbrook Park,
Northwich,
Cheshire,
CW9 7LP
Telephone 01565 760010
Facsimile 01565 621169
compliance@absenceprotection.co.uk

We will investigate your concerns and provide you with a written response setting out the outcome and reason.

If we cannot resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, you may, if eligible, refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Normally to be eligible you must be an individual consumer or a micro-enterprise or a charity or trustee of a trust under a certain size. However, you can find the full FOS eligibility criteria on their website. The FOS can be contacted at:

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
Harbour Exchange Square,
London,
E14 9SR
Telephone: 0800 0234 567 or 0300 123 9 123
Facsimile: 020 7964 1001
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk