Natsure Aviation – Nairobi Visit

Last week, we were pleased to host Dave Rijntjes and Deon Langenhoven from Natsure Underwriting Managers for a full-day engagement in Nairobi. Natsure is a leading, long-term General Aviation underwriter. They underwrite on behalf of A-rated Lloyds of London Insurance capacity, which is made available as “Re-Insurance” to our local insurers here in East Africa.

Dave Rijntjes, originally from the Netherlands, is a former Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor who transitioned into aviation underwriting in the mid-1980s in South Africa and has specialised ever since. Deon Langenhoven (also formerly a pilot in a private capacity) began his career as an Aviation Loss Adjuster before moving into broking with a leading South African insurance broker. He moved into underwriting just over ten years ago. Together, they bring a wealth of experience underwriting General Aviation risks across Eastern and Southern Africa.

We had a broad discussion on the East African aviation insurance landscape as well as the trends in the global aviation insurance markets, and a more focused technical discussion, too. Overall, it was great to hear that their appetite for the East African region remains broad – they are comfortable writing a wide range of risks, but stressed the importance of avoiding surprises -providing sufficient underwriting information in relation to the aircraft and operation is key to giving underwriters comfort to write the risk.

We visited an Aircraft Maintenance Operation at Wilson Airport, where the owner shared insights around key operational realities affecting aircraft repair shops in East Africa – the limited availability of spare parts, long lead times and escalating parts costs in particular.

These types of engagements are invaluable for strengthening relationships between the local players in Kenya and the Re-Insurers and certainly helped to ensure that general aviation risks in the region are properly understood by the overseas insurers who ultimately carry the risk.

If you operate general aviation aircraft in the region and would like a review or quotation for your aviation insurance programme, please do feel free to reach out to the team at JW Seagon.