This article is part of a series sponsored by Britam.

Established in 1965, British American Insurance has grown to become one of Kenya’s leading service providers. 39 years later, in 2004, the company was absorbed by British American Investments as part of a share-swap agreement.

Now, the British American Insurance Company (Kenya) is one of the subsidiaries under the British-American Investment Company (currently known as Britam) umbrella. It joins the ranks of Britam Insurance Company (Uganda) Limited and British American Asset Managers Limited. An article from the Micro-insurance Facility reveals that British American Insurance is Kenya’s third-largest insurance company.

How Does it Work?

It is organised into two main divisions: short term/general insurance business and long term assurance business, which is made up of life assurance and investment management. General insurance business relates to all other categories of insurance business written by the company, analysed into several sub-classes of business based on the nature of the assumed risks.

The long term assurance business is responsible for the underwriting of risks relating to death of an insured person, and includes contracts subject to the payment of premiums for a term dependent on the termination or continuance of the life of an insured person. The subsidiary currently provides individual life insurance, group life insurance, pensions, healthcare, property and casualty insurance.

Corporate Giants Leading Britam

Britam’s Insurance arm is spear-headed by a Board of Directors comprised of 9 high ranking individuals. The firm is led by non-executive Chairman, Nicholas Ashford-Hodges, who is also the President of British American (UK) Limited. He is also Vice Chairman of the British-American Investment Company (Mtius) Limited, as well as Director for several other Boards and sub-committees within the Group, in both Mauritius and Malta. Furthermore, Ashford-Hodges holds the position of Chairman at GlobalCapital PLC, a company listed under the Malta Stock Exchange.

Also at the helm of Britam’s insurance branch is Benson Wairegi, Group Managing Director and Equity Bank Limited Vice Chairman. He is also a Housing Finance Director and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nairobi (UONBI).

Peter Munga, Jimnah Mbaru, Dr James Mwangi and Salim Beebeejaun are the Group’s non-executive Directors. Munga is the Chairman at Equity Bank Limited while Mbaru is the Chairman at Dyer & Blair and Dr Mwangi, also a CPA, is Equity Bank's CEO.

Joseph Muli, Kenya Railways MD, and Bocar Dia, United Nations International Consultant are the company’s non-executive independent Directors.

Not to be forgotten is Stephen Wandera, the firm’s Managing Director and the Chairman of the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI).

Customer Satisfaction

In 2007, the insurer partnered with Majani Insurance Brokers, a subsidiary of the Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA), to launch a micro-insurance product. Now the product has more than 50,000 subscribers. It was Britam’s first micro-insurance service.

In 2010, the company launched another micro-insurance product which promised to give the consumers low premiums. The service was, in fact, a personal accident cover with annual premiums for as little as KES 530. It was part of a joint venture between Equity Bank and Safaricom.

The firm later won the title of Best Insurance Company in Customer Satisfaction during the Think Business Insurance Awards of 2011. In 2012, the firm posted an underwriting profit of KES 415 million from general insurance for the year ended 31st December, 2011.

Growing Brand

Minister for Finance, Njeru Githae describes Britam as a large employer with over 1400 members of staff, including financial advisers. The firm (known as Britak at the time), held the title for Super Brand of the Year in 2009 and 2010, making it the only insurance company in the country to ever receive this award.

Britam's Half Year results for 2012 report that the Insurance branch grew 29% to KES 3.3 billion from KES 2.6 billion the previous year.

With the introduction of micro-insurance, agricultural insurance and livestock insurance, Britam has come up with investment tools aimed at improving the livelihoods of Kenyans country-wide. “The innovation witnessed in expanding the distribution channels for this other financial products show commitment to principles of financial inclusion and increased penetration,” said Githae.

Britam has been a major contributor to the Insurance sector which, according to the Ministry of Finance, accounts for 3.1% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

With 6 branches in Nairobi and at least 9 others across the country, British American plans to continue its expansion and establish its corporate footprint within the East African region. It currently has operations in South Sudan and has its sights set on Rwanda. Speaking shortly after the company’s recent re-brand, Wairegi said that, despite the company's ongoing changes, Britam plans to maintain its high level of customer service.