Unum’s head of proposition development, Andrew Potterton, says the provider now wants its life insurance and critical illness cover credentials to be known as much as its income protection expertise.

Speaking to Life Insurance International, Potterton said: "We would like to be a much more balanced product provider, so as part of our strategy for 2015, we are styling ourselves as a financial protection insurer as opposed to [just being] an income protection insurer.

["To grow the UK income protection market] increasingly, we are looking at more of a service angle, and applying our expertise. We are positioning ourselves as not just a benefits provider, but as a real solution for employers to tap into in order to improve their employees’ absence management and improve their costs."

Potterton added that Unum is upgrading its system this year and in 2016 we will have a brand new administration platform that will support our drive for an easier customer experience.

According to Unum, it is the market leader in group income protection in the UK and US.