Self-certification

When teachers or support staff are unable to attend work they need to inform their employer as soon as possible, providing an explanation for their absence and an indication of when they are likely to return to school.

Most staff absence insurance providers will request supporting evidence for any absence claims which last seven calendar days or more. This can often be problematic for schools as they are reliant on the absent member of staff to provide the documentation in order to submit a claim. Unfortunately this can often mean if the school cannot gather the required documents, their claim may be declined.

On top of this, when claims documentation from GPs is required, they can often be slow returning absence reports. Not only does this put additional pressure on policy administrators to chase the paperwork it also affects the providers ability to assess and settle your claim if they are not returned within the agreed policy time limits.

With this in mind, we are pleased to say that some of our brands featuring on our website take a market leading approach to claims documentation and allow staff to self-certify for between 10 to 20 days.

Self-certification claims provide some significant advantages to those which require external supporting documentation. These include:

Reduced workloads for policy administrators. Self-certified absences are easier for your school’s Administration Team or HR Department as they don’t need to wait for staff to retrieve external medical evidence, such as a Doctor’s Report, for your provider to assess your school’s insurance claim.

Ensures more claims are paid. Failure to submit the necessary documentation within your provider’s policy time limits can often lead to claims being declined. External documentation is not needed for self-certification claims, ensuring more of your claims are paid.

Improved claim payment times. Claims departments often rely on receiving external medical evidence to assess and settle your insurance claims. For self-certification claims you only need to provide a self-certificate form, allowing claims to be processed more efficiently.

Removes pressure on absent staff. Self-certification claims allow the absentee to focus specifically on returning to good health and returning to work as soon as possible, without any unnecessary insurance related concerns.

Helps to ease any cash-flow issues. Schools are often required to pay to retrieve a Doctor’s Report, which is not necessary for self-certification claims. This will help to ease cash flow issues in a time of increasing financial pressure on schools.

We’re pleased to announce that two of our brands have taken the industry-leading approach of extending the period of absence schools can self-certify.