"The Council set up the in-house mutual staff absence management scheme over 10 years ago to help schools plan their budgets. The objective was to enable schools to reduce their financial risks by protecting against the unpredictable costs of staff absence. The non-profit making scheme collects premiums annually and provides payments in the event of staff absence with any surplus being retained by the fund.
"Administering the scheme did however require additional resources. Consequently, the Council appointed BEST to manage the scheme’s claims. Schools were given access to BEST's electronic claims notification system, which offered them a simple and quick administrative solution. Schools welcomed having their claims processed, assessed, validated and paid promptly by an established specialist organisation.
"The Council also benefited from access to the market intelligence provided by BEST and were able to update their scheme to reflect sector developments, ensuring it remained attractive to schools by being competitive against the commercial market.
"In early 2008, the Council identified that further efficiencies would be achieved by outsourcing the scheme’s sales and administration to BEST. Renewal documentation was issued by BEST who contacted all participating schools to confirm renewal. BEST also contacted non-participating schools to outline the benefits of the Council scheme. Uptake in the scheme has since increased by over 4%. BEST also issue invoices and provide all credit control services relating to the scheme."
Steve Rouvray
Acting Insurance and Risk Manager
Read more about mutual fund protection consultancy for Local Authorities
Read another mutual fund protection consultancy case study
Back to case studies