Zurich launches bereavement support for 3 million customers as UK faces “loss support crisis”

Zurich is giving more than three million Life Protection customers¹ access to Empathy at no extra cost, a pioneering human-led and digital bereavement support service, making it the first major business in the UK to offer comprehensive loss support at this scale. The move marks a significant expansion of Zurich’s customer support and a natural extension of its established empathy-led approach, moving beyond traditional insurance cover to supporting customers through life’s hardest moments.

From today, Retail Protection customers and employees of Corporate Risk customers² will have access to personalised care plans, dedicated care managers for personalised guidance and secure digital tools to help manage the emotional and practical pressures that follow the death of their loved one. From June, this will be expanded to those who are diagnosed with a terminal illness. Families using the service save on average 148 hours of administrative work and around £2,319 in costs³ for tasks such as probate and estate administration, funeral logistics or closing digital accounts and subscriptions, easing both workload and financial strain.

Later this year, Retail Protection customers will also have access to Zurich LifeVault, a secure digital platform that helps people plan for their legacy, create wills and organise essential information, so families clearly understand their wishes. The new service will also enable families to preserve and store memories from precious photos right through to family recipes, so everyone can access these meaningful items through Empathy’s platform. Access to the Empathy Loss Support™ service will also be expanded to support customers with the loss of a loved one.

These services sit alongside Zurich’s existing support services and will also be available to all advisers who are registered with Zurich, so they too can benefit from the loss support and guidance offered to customers.

Part of a global shift to Empathy and compassion - culturally embedded at Zurich

In 2025, Zurich placed empathy at the centre of its global customer strategy, influencing product design, employee training and how the business supports brokers and customers. Since 2023, over 50,000 hours of empathy training has been delivered through Zurich’s Global Empathy Training Program to help employees respond with emotional intelligence in moments of vulnerability. The multi-award-winning program originated in the UK Retail Protection team before being expanded globally and saw significant impact; ‘helpfulness of person’ survey scores jumped +48.8 percentage points to 92.5 following the roll out of training.

To support the launch of Empathy Loss Support™, UK-based claims handlers and protection consultants will receive 60 hours of specialist bereavement training to ensure customers receive compassionate and knowledgeable support at every touchpoint.

Following the UK launch, Zurich intends to expand Empathy Loss Support™ to other markets as part of a global roll out strategy.

Consumers choose compassionate companies

The initiative responds to findings from Zurich’s global empathy research⁴ showing that consumers increasingly expect compassionate, practical help during life’s most difficult moments. Empathy’s Cost of Loss report⁵ also highlights a growing “loss support crisis” in the UK, with a third of bereaved people taking time off work to manage administrative tasks (33%) and many feeling unsupported during the claims process (33%). This clearly highlights the scale of the support deficit in the UK.

Compassion is fast becoming the key differentiator for consumers. Research5 shows over half of people say they would choose an insurer based on bereavement support (57%) and 92% prioritise employers that offer it, with nearly half willing to leave a job if they felt unsupported after a loss (48%). Zurich’s Addressing the Empathy Gap global study, conducted with empathy expert Professor Jamil Zaki, also reinforces this shift. Of the 11,500 consumers surveyed, 43% had left a brand due to a lack of compassion, while 73% would avoid companies that fail to show empathy.

Commenting on the announcement, Louise Colley, Managing Director at Zurich UK said:

“When it comes to loss and bereavement, grief is just the beginning. There are funeral logistics, probate and estate administration, digital accounts to close and more when your life has just been turned upside down. Empathy’s services will provide our customers with the human care and digital tools to manage all this and more, so that people don’t feel forced to move on but really helped to move forward.

“At Zurich empathy isn’t just a skill but a cornerstone of our business, and our partnership with Empathy is a continuation of our commitment to this. The nature of insurance means that we help people at some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives, so listening, understanding and supporting people is always at the heart of everything we do. With over half of UK adults without a valid will and rising care demands being felt across the country, this strengthens our proposition to win in the market.”

James Tait, Managing Director of Corporate Protection at Zurich UK said:

“The inclusion of Empathy Loss Support™ in our offering will help our Corporate Risk customers to support their employees with compassion and care at arguably the most difficult time of their lives. These resources and care systems ensure employees feel understood and supported, while fostering a caring workplace culture. For employers, investing in bereavement services demonstrates a commitment to employee welfare while strengthening engagement and resilience across the whole company, which we know is a priority for our customers.”

Already serving tens of millions of policyholders across North America and covering one in five life insurance claims in the US, Empathy partners with life insurance carriers, financial institutions and employers to provide compassionate support through life’s hardest moments, including loss, legacy and disability. The partnership marks Empathy's first strategic collaboration in UK financial services, bringing proven, scalable expertise to one of the world's most forward-thinking insurance markets.

Ron Gura, Co-Founder & CEO of Empathy said:

“Partnering with Zurich is a significant milestone in our mission to transform the way families navigate life’s most challenging moments – from loss and bereavement to the many complexities that follow. Bringing that support to millions of families across the UK, at the scale this partnership makes possible, is something we’re incredibly proud of. This is what meaningful, compassionate care looks like in practice.”

Families save on average 148 hours on administration throughout the bereavement process with streamlined support from Empathy Loss Support™:

• Personalised Care Plan – A clear, structured roadmap that removes guesswork and speeds up every stage of the process
• Dedicated Care Manager – Expert guidance that helps families complete tasks faster and with greater confidence.
• Account & subscription closure – Full management of closing accounts and memberships, eliminating lengthy admin and repeated calls
• Support with claiming benefits – Faster access to eligible benefits through clear guidance and simplified steps.
• Probate & estate guidance – Practical tools that make legal and financial responsibilities easier and quicker to complete
• Funeral planning assistance – Checklists, templates, and help sourcing funeral homes to reduce the time spent researching options
• Family collaboration tools – A shared workspace that streamlines coordination, avoids duplication, and keeps progress moving
• Secure Digital Vault – Safe storage for essential documents and cherished items such as family photos, recipes, and keepsakes
• Emotional support resources – On‑demand grief support that helps families stay organised and better able to move through practical tasks.

Notes to editors

• Includes all new and existing LPP Retail Protection customers and beneficiaries, all employees of Corporate Risk customers, advisers
• All life insurance beneficiaries at the point of claim
• Time saved/money saved statistics from Empathy.com by analysing secondary data source research
• Zurich’s “Addressing the Empathy Gap: How human connection can give businesses a new competitive edge”: YouGov surveyed 11,560 adults across 11 markets (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Portugal, Switzerland, UK, US, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Spain). Fieldwork: 12th to 28th May 2025
• Empathy’s “The Cost of Loss: The UK’s Bereavement Burden”: Censuswide surveyed 4,751 UK adults who had experienced the bereavement of a close friend or family member and were employed at the time of the loss, and 1,302 UK adults who had experienced a close bereavement and subsequently filed a life insurance claim related to the deceased person. Fieldwork 24 October to 1 November 2025.

Empathy Loss Support™, offered by Zurich, combines human care and digital tools to help families manage the practical and emotional impact of a bereavement. It offers:

• A personalised, step‑by‑step Care Plan
• Access to trained Care Managers (24/7 chat/email; phone Monday–Friday, 9am–5:30pm GMT)
• Digital tools and resources for grief support, funeral planning, estate administration, closing accounts, identity protection, family collaboration and secure document storage

Zurich LifeVault helps people organise their affairs in life and make things clearer for the people they leave behind. It enables users to create official, legal documents without requiring any legal background or professional adviser. It offers:

• A guided experience to create the most crucial estate planning documents (e.g. Last Will and Testament)
• A secure, encrypted vault for storing and sharing important documents
• An asset overview to record financial accounts and assets
• A Learning Centre with clear, tailored resources.
• Options to share view/download access with trusted individuals and to collaborate as an individual or couple