RSA rolls out grief counselling

Royal& Sun Alliance Financial Services (RSA) has rolled out a grief counselling service for its Term Life and Recovery Insurance policies.

The service, which is being cited as a first for the life industry, teams RSA up with Davidson Trehaire, an independent counselling group.

Royal & Sun Alliance Life Risk product manager Gerard Keer says the counselling services is available to all term life and recovery insurance policies that were written through and serviced by an intermediary.

However, the counselling is not available on term life policies written through a superannuation fund, Keer says.

He says the grief counselling is offered to the family of the claimant when RSA is notified of a death or trauma case. As people deal with grief in different ways, the offer is available to family members up until 13 months after the event.

“If it is an individual seeking counselling, there is a limit of four sessions. If a spouse or their children require counselling, we’ve included six hours,” he says.

“Basically, we provide short-term grief counselling, and so if a Davidson Trehaire counsellor believes further counselling is required, we will provide a further referral,” Keer says.

The counselling sessions can be either face-to-face or over the phone, and if the person asking for counselling is unable to leave their home, a counsellor may make a home visit.