A new year is just around the corner.

For most organisations, 1 January marks not only the start of a new financial year – it’s also tends to be the renewal date for pension plans and employer funded insured benefits.

Each year, Finance, HR, and Benefits teams face growing challenges.

• Tightening budgets and rising costs for medical, death, and disability income
  protection benefits.
• The delicate balance between caring for people with resilient plan design.
• Maintaining fair and consistent insurer policy terms across all locations.
• Safeguarding the financial wellbeing of both the employer and its employees.

It’s a complex equation because mental, physical, and financial wellbeing are deeply interconnected.

• Cancer remains the largest share of disability income protection claim costs.
• Mental illness related absences have increased by nearly 50% over the last decade.
• Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions impact around 5% of employees annually – causing millions of lost work days.
• Over 20% of working-age people are out of work due to ill health.
• Nearly 30% of disability income protection payments result from late claim submissions.
• Premium costs continue to rise – adding more pressure on budgets and benefits provision.

Add inconsistent insurer policy terms and conditions across countries – and the need for a different approach becomes clear.

Sustainable success depends on finding the right balance – protecting both people and the business.

So how can employers create better outcomes?

Imagine if annual disability income protection benefits were designed to:

1. Support mental health and MSK recovery – providing financial stability for a defined period while employees receive proper care and return to work with confidence.
2. Align cancer and long term illness benefits with retirement age or earlier recovery and return to work – restoring the original purpose of permanent health and long term disability insurance.
3. Address policy exclusions – such as suicide related deaths or disabilities – removing unnecessary risk for people and employers.

This is what Imaginari | da Vinci is about.

Protecting organisations and their people. Aligning benefits with values. Creating clarity and cost control.