‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’!

You will have read or heard about the ongoing growth and success of JW Seagon and in particular the fast-developing General Broking side with its unique and exclusive insurance products in the region. You may ask yourselves whether this is as a result of premium savings being provided…or do these policies actually work? Well, in this latest blog, let me tell you about some actual insurance claims that we have handled and successfully concluded. We have of course, removed names and certain information to ensure confidentiality, but all are factual.

In 2017, one of our coastal clients incurred severe damage to their sea wall. At the time, it was not known if it was as a result of subsidence or storm damage, but it did not matter as both are covered under our Safari Plan policy. The claim was settled as ‘cash in lieu’ payment of just under KES 30m.

At about the same time, two more of our Safari Plan clients suffered major floods. Both claims involved substantial repairs and replacement of tents, camp infrastructure and consequential loss as the clients had to close their operations. Total of both claims was around KES 200m and one was settled. The second is still ongoing but payments on account are being regularly made, pending client’s final submission of loss.

A very sad death of one of our client’s Directors in a non-work-related incident and between the client and JWS, the option to take a WIBA 24-hour cover, meant the deceased’s family received a lump sum of over KES 100m within a couple of weeks of the incident.

One of our commercial clients with a household name, discovered over KES 10m of their products was being stolen by their staff and called us to assist with claiming under their Fidelity Guarantee policy, even though it was prior to our appointment as their Broker. We assisted and agreed on the claim with the Insurers within days.

A guest in one of our client’s properties, tripped and broke her ankle in a clear negligence case. In view of her nationality, we wanted to avoid any commencement of a legal process as the costs would escalate massively. So, with the permission of our client’s Insurers, we spoke to the guest on regular occasions over a 6-month period and ultimately agreed a $10,000 settlement, which took care of the medical bills she incurred, and our client’s Insured met these costs. The guest was satisfied, and no adverse social media comments followed.

A client based in an affluent part of Nairobi, had an armed break-in. The askari was attacked and beaten to the ground and the client’s family was held at gun-point as the gang of thieves ransacked the house. Goods such as watches, laptops, cash, etc.., were taken and the total value was around KES 3m. The client had erroneously only insured the ‘total’ value of all contents for KES 4m, so it needed the JWS team to convince the Loss Adjuster that this was not underinsurance. We succeeded and the claim was met in full.

Finally, again, for one of our Safari Plan clients, we arranged an Emergency Assistance cover for all guests that arrive at their camps/lodges. One particular guest suffered, what was subsequently diagnosed as a severe heart attack, but foolishly, the guest had no Travel insurance cover and no way of paying for an evacuation and subsequent medical treatment. We were able to arrange the emergency services and all costs were met by our policy. The current costs are in the region of $60,000 and, whilst the Insurer has every right to pursue recovery of these costs, the fact is the payment facility was available and so the gentleman received life threatening treatment.

These are just some of the examples of cases we have dealt with…there are thousands more that we deal with each year. Ultimately, settlement of these claims is why our clients pay their insurance premiums and so, by buying our extensive policy covers, we are always confident that cover is in place and our clients will get satisfaction.