ICMIF member PG Mutual (UK) has announced a partnership with Validium to provide member policyholders with access to wellbeing counselling services.

Validium, which is part of the HealthHero group, offers mental health and wellbeing services via 24/7 helplines, and PG Mutual says it has already seen “good use” of the service by its members.

Income protection policyholders with PG Mutual will be provided with access to the Validium services as a result of the partnership.

Christine Anderson, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at PG Mutual, said: “In these worrying times, we wanted to ensure that members and their dependants could access a mental health specialist service to assist members with personal or work-related problems likely to affect their wellbeing.”

“I am therefore delighted that we could add the Member Wellbeing Counselling services offered by Validium which complements our excellent remote GP services provided by HealthHero,” she added.

Anderson concluded: “We are looking forward to working with their team and I am very excited about the future of this shared initiative.”

Debbie Cullen, Senior Relationship Manager at Validium, said feedback from the counsellors showed an increase in calls regarding relationship breakdowns and social isolation which was spurred on by the pandemic.

Social isolation was highlighted by a small number of clients who had previously been part of a support group or network.