Rates warning for insurance in kenya!

In the middle of 2020, soon after Covid took a hard grip on society, I made a prediction about market rates soaring in 2021, on a Worldwide basis (Read the blog here) . In December 2020, we were told by the Kenyan insurance market that Fire, Consequential Loss, Engineering and Bond rates were increasing…and they did, as from 1^st January 2021 (Read the blog here). Some early clients with renewals in January to March may have avoided these increases, and some clients have had scaled increases, but overall, they are hitting very hard and this will continue going forwards.

Whilst nothing has been formalised yet, today we have learned that the aforementioned rates have been reviewed again, and there is a variance, some increases some decreases. We will keep a close eye and we will provide an up-date as soon as possible.

Sadly, it appears that the market is now also pushing ahead with increases on almost every other sector, including WIBA, Group Personal Accident, Motor insurance and Political Violence/Terrorism. As per last year, failure to comply with these minimum rates, will invalidate the reinsurances for Insurers, leaving Policyholders exposed.

These rating increases are hitting industry hard, and we believe they are unfair and unjust. Yes, the Kenyan insurance market has been guilty of suppressing rates for many years, and rates needed to increase. However, it should not have been done ‘wholesale’…pick your better risks and reward them, take the ones causing issues and deal with them differently. Instead, we have a ‘catch all’ scenario that affects everyone.

As before, JWS is well placed to work with certain Insurers to mitigate these increases and we will do our utmost to negotiate the best terms and rates for you, whether you are an existing business or would like us to review your portfolio. Please get in touch at any time.

Email [email protected] or call us on +254 (0) 709 455026.