Zurich says mental health continues to be one of the most significant drivers of life insurance and TPD claims, as it expands its focus on early intervention and support.
Speaking at Zurich’s third biannual Mental Health Roundtable, CEO Justin Delaney said almost a third of claims for some of its life products cite mental health, while nearly half of all TPD claims include mental health as a secondary or contributing factor.
“We are witnessing a profound increase in the diagnosis and severity of mental illness in Australia,” he said.
“Roundtables provide an important opportunity for the broader mental health ecosystem to collaborate, exchange views and share data to drive continued progress in addressing some of the significant trends we are seeing.
“It is also a critical avenue for facilitating the meaningful and ongoing evolution of Zurich’s products and services, ensuring we can continue to protect Australians and play a more active role in prevention and early intervention into the future.”
Zurich’s latest roundtable brought together mental health experts, researchers and sector leaders from organisations including:
- Medical research body NeuRA
- University of New South Wales
- Suicide Prevention Australia
- MindSpot
- R U OK?
The insurer also presented new analysis quantifying the health resilience of Australian communities, focusing on diagnosis rates and access to care.
Academics shared results from a recent Pain and Emotion Therapy clinical trial that explored emotional regulation tools for managing chronic pain.
Since its previous forum in February, Zurich has:
- Piloted three new mental health support programmes for claimants which focus on improving resilience factors such as nutrition and exercise
- Rolled out new vulnerable customer and empathy training for all claims employees
- Added additional mental health specialists to support its claims and underwriting teams
